Luckock, a 32-year-old Australian lawyer who has lived in Beijing a total of six years, owns two siheyuan - or "four-sided courtyards" - tucked away in Beijing's historic hutong alleyways. He bought the first 190-sq-m home two years ago, after four years of searching and several collapsed deals.
The second, a 326-sq-m siheyuan, Luckock bought last year, after negotiations with five different owners and a title dispute involving illegal squatters. He was forced to buy the property in his fiance's mother's name to get around a new law restricting to one the number of properties foreigners can own.
