SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - It was love at first sight for the owner of a semi-detached home when she visited its land plot in 2017. Already searching for a home in Greenbank Park, in the Bukit Timah area, she set her eyes on the site because it was connected to vast greenery.
She immediately decided to purchase the 3,983 sq ft plot from a developer after viewing it. She paid $6.3 million for the house and then spent in excess of $4 million to build a multi-generational home in an industrial style. The design of the home features raw concrete on its exterior and interior. Her siblings, their partners and her mother moved in at the start of 2019.
“A lot of time and effort was put in by the architect and the seller to creatively design this house in achieving this remarkable layout with an outstanding building facade,” says Sammi Lim, executive director of Brilliance Capital, the exclusive marketing agent for the property. “The house gives occupiers the feeling of a bungalow with lush greenery at the back, without any adjoining neighbours,” she adds.
Entrance to the house is through the basement, which can park four or five cars. There is also a soundproof room that can serve as a karaoke or entertainment room, and a helper’s room with an en suite bathroom.
The owner will be selling the house together with the furniture in the house as many of the pieces were commissioned specially for it (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
On the first floor, there is a living room, a dining room, and a 10m-long swimming pool with a timber deck. The dining area opens out to a small backyard with glass panels, which look out to the greenery at the back. “I intentionally used glass panels, which make the home look larger and connected to greenery,” says the owner.
There is also a pathway at the back built by the government that links up to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve via an entrance at Jalan Kampong Chantek.
Additionally, the owner’s mother has created a small garden at the back with landscaping rocks and flowering plants. The back garden has also become a hangout spot for the neighbourhood.
Multi-generational living
On the second floor, there are two en suite bedrooms and two study rooms. The owner’s mother currently occupies one of them. One of the study rooms is designed with Japanese-style room dividers and the floor is laid with traditional tatami mats. “I love Japan, so I specially got the contractors to study how to re-create a traditional Japanese feel in this room,” shares the owner.
One of the study rooms on the second floor has traditional Japanese room dividers and is laid with traditional tatami mats (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The third floor and the attic level are open-plan. The owner currently occupies the third floor, which has its own family area, kitchen, dining set, sleeping quarters, walk-in closet and an en suite bedroom.
The attic level also has its own living room area, bedroom, walk-in closet, and a balcony that overlooks the neighbourhood. Currently, the owner’s eldest brother lives on this floor with his wife and toddler.
In total, the house has seven en suite bedrooms, and a gross floor area of 11,617 sq ft. All the floors in the home can be accessed via an internal lift.
“When I designed the house, I thought about everyone’s needs. You can sense that on each floor, everyone has their own private space,” says the owner. “There is even a provision on the attic level to add walls if my young nephew needs his own room later.”
The attic level has a balcony that overlooks the neighbourhood (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Another attractive point for the owner was that she could build 3½ storeys on a sloped land plot, which meant that the upper floors of the house will have unblocked views over other neighbouring homes.
Under URA’s envelope control guidelines, the overall building height is based on the allowable number of storeys and the floor-to-floor height, which is measured from the external platform level of the first floor. Hence, the house is built on elevated ground.
The owner spared no expenses on the house and chose top-grade furnishings and appliances. For instance, the flooring in the living room is made of polished concrete with mother-of-pearl shells. “It’s something rare and we worked this technique out with the contractors,” she says.
Selected furniture and carpentry were commissioned from Italian brand Molteni & C Dada and there are also pieces from premium furniture brands such as Living Divani, Ligne Roset and Lago. The fittings used in the kitchen on the third floor are from the Italian brand Varenna. These fittings and fixtures amount to more than $500,000, according to Lim.
The owner’s room on the third floor has its own family area, kitchen, dining set, sleeping quarters, walk-in closet and an en suite bedroom (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The owner is willing to sell the house together with the furniture as many of the pieces were commissioned specially for the house. “In my new house, the layout may not fit completely because the spaces here are quite large,” she says.
Surrounded by greenery
The Greenbank Park area is popular among both locals and expats as it is within the Bukit Timah area but tucked away at its own corner, says Lim. Located by the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, it is “tranquil and connected to greenery”, she says.
“Homes here are rarely available. My colleague recently completed a leasing deal here where the home was rented out to an expat family within three days,” Lim adds. Part of the allure of the location could be its proximity to international schools, as it is a short five-minute drive to the Swiss School in Singapore, Hollandse School and Chatsworth International School. Nearby amenities within a 10-minute drive include The Grandstand, KAP Mall and Bukit Timah Plaza.
The bathroom on the third floor (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The owner is looking to sell her house as she is getting married and will be moving out. Her second brother has also moved out with his own family to be located close to his child’s primary school. “I conceived the idea of an inter-generational home close to five years ago, and things have changed. The house is now a little too large for just my mother and my elder brother’s family,” she adds.
The house is only fully utilised on the weekends, when all the siblings would return for family gatherings. “That said, I still love to entertain family and friends in this house,” the owner adds.
MJ Zhou, associate director at Brilliance Capital, says: “This house is definitely ideal for a buyer to fulfil the dream of multi-generational family living. Each household can have privacy on each level, yet there is a huge living and dining area as well as pool for everyone to mingle together.”
The owner’s own kitchen, which is fitted with the Italian brand Varenna, and the dining area face lush greenery (Photo: Samuel Issac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The owner is a sincere seller who wishes that the property will land in the hands of the “right buyer” who will appreciate the quality finishes and furniture that come with it, says Lim. “We have gotten a valuation in excess of the asking price of $9.98 million for this house, at $10.3 million. In fact, the costs of land, construction and materials used add up in excess of $10 million,” she says.
“For anyone to buy an empty land plot today and rebuild, the total cost will be at least 20% to 25% higher,” Lim adds.
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