Origin of Orient Foundation

　　The Camões Garden is sided by a magnificent mansion constructed by a wealthy Portuguese merchant, Manuel Pereira, in the 18th century. He began as a maritime trader in Goa which earned him a fortune to become a man of great wealth locally. Upon arriving to Macao, he bought a plot of land at the northeast end of the Garden to build a mansion as his villa, which was inherited by his son-in-law, Lourenço Marques, after his death. The Mediterranean-style building has a tapering marble staircase leading to its main entrance that opens to a sumptuously decorated hall.

The history-laden villa was once rented to the British East India Company as the residence for the Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China, the taipans and for senior officials who were dispatched to China. After the Company left Macao, the local Portuguese administration took over its ownership and used it as the office of the Public Works Bureau, Government Printing Bureau and the premises of the Luís de Camões Museum at different periods. In 1989, the building was sold to the Orient Foundation to be its head office until the present day. Yet, its roof became so heavily infested by termites that it was removed. George Smirnoff had been there for sketching and had made sketch works of the mansion on the back of his paintings, since the city was hampered by a shortage of materials during the Second Sino-Japanese War.