Murray House

Originally the officer's mess at the former Murray Barracks, Murray House was first built in 1846, and is one of Hong Kong's oldest surviving public buildings.

Built with locally quarried granite in a classical style grander than most barracks buildings, Murray House features Doric and Ionic columns, a double-layered sloping tiled roof, and deep verandahs that provided officers with shelter during Hong Kong's punishing summers.

During the occupation of Hong Kong in World War II, it was used as a command centre by the Japanese military police. Post-war, the building was strongly believed to be haunted, owing to the Japanese having used it as a jail, torture and execution site. Subsequently two Buddhist exorcisms were performed in 1963 and 1974 to cleanse the property of lingering spirits.

In 1982, the barracks were demolished to make way for the redevelopment of the site. Murray House was deconstructed into almost 4,000 separate building blocks that were labeled and put into storage. The now iconic Bank of China Tower was built in its place.

Murray House was eventually reconstructed on the waterfront at the coastal town of Stanley, but under a cloud of controversy. Visually, the building looks identical, but instead of being faithfully recreated in its entirety, the stones of the original building were hastily glued onto a new concrete frame, which cost the building its Grade I heritage rating. Reopened in 2002 as an entertainment complex featuring shops and restaurants, the ground floor housed the Maritime Museum from 2005 until moving to a larger venue at Victoria Harbour in 2013.

Nowadays, most of Murray House's retail spaces sit empty, but the building has been fully incorporated into Stanley promenade as its main landmark. The airy tiled verandahs overlook Stanley Bay and make for pleasant exploration on a sunny day.