How one Hong Kong couple transformed a derelict junk into a weekend retreat
A family’s pandemic project became a design odyssey, turning a rotting boat into a sun-washed escape with coastal-Florida flair
During the pandemic years, psychologists urged housebound Hongkongers to keep bodies and minds occupied with new pursuits.
After months of searching, they found “the one”: Serendipity, a 55-foot motorised teak junk built in 1994. Never mind that she was mouldy, cockroach-ridden and rotting in places. Rescuing her seemed like a noble mission for the business-owning, Mid-Levels couple.
Some thought they were crazy – including one surveyor who said he wouldn’t touch it. “He didn’t have the vision,” says Jenny.
“Having previously renovated a 50-year-old house in Florida, we knew what we were in for,” says Marc. “Sort of.”
With two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two indoor living areas plus several outdoor decks, the two-and-a-half-level liveaboard had the makings of a comfortable family weekender – all it needed was a total restoration.
In late 2020, they enlisted the junk’s original builder, Sun Hing Shing Shipyard, in Ap Lei Chau, to work on the motor and hull, and brought on Danish architect and fellow junk owner Inge Strompf-Jepsen as a design consultant. Jenny, who favoured a Florida beach house aesthetic, began sourcing the internal finishes.