Balik 'kampung': Tenant gives tour of homely $36m GCB in Singapore, features chickens and a vegetable garden

With around 2,800 Good Class Bungalows (GCBs) in Singapore, it is not often that one gets a tour of the space, much less grasp what it feels like to live in a house costing upwards of $30 million. 

Content creator Koocester recently brought viewers along for a peek into a pre-war GCB worth $36 million, with a history that has spanned close to 100 years. He uploaded a 441-second video of the house tour to TikTok last Saturday, Aug 12. 

"The house has been around since 1930s," shares its current tenant, known in the video as "Mr Harris". It is not clear from the video where the GCB is located.

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Stepping through the gates, the front porch of the home looks to have sufficient parking space for at least 10 cars, though that might just be the least impressive thing about the property.

There are also two separate buildings to the left and right — a main living area as well as the guest quarters, which Harris' mum and helpers currently occupy.

The bungalow's interior designer, Christopher Kwek, brings Koocester on the tour, sharing on camera that the project was something that his company had created "some time ago". 

The house is a combination of modern design mixed in with colonial features and tropical architecture, such as Harris' "favourite part of the house" —  a circular porch facing the garden. The air vents on the ceiling, unique to the design of the colonial era, were kept as is. "It's more like Tiong Bahru, that kind of art-deco feel," elaborates Harris on the vibe that the space gives off.

A short distance away from the porch, and also overlooking the garden, is a decidedly more modern-looking deck area, which Harris says doubles up as a "stage" he uses to hold performances when guests come over.

And his are no ordinary house parties either. Harris, whom we found out is local theatre veteran Harris Zaidi, estimates that the house sees around 500 guests throughout the day whenever he hosts an event.

A rare privilege

The approximately 24,000 sq ft of land that the bungalow sits on is certainly expansive, with verdant greenery all round.

"The house is actually not very big, but the land, the space that you have from your neighbour is very generous," Harris shares.

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The estate, which he humorously calls "Kampung Kana", comes complete with a small pool, "about 13" free-roaming chickens as well as fruit trees and a vegetable patch.

"It's so fun lah, to able to just pluck and eat!" Harris effuses of the kangkung (water spinach) and other vegetables growing in his backyard. But he adds that grocery shopping is still a must, as the yield from his crops isn't quite enough to feed the family on a regular basis.

Indoors, Harris shares how he'd made some updates to the design since Kwek worked on the house. He describes the style that he was going for, inspired by his love of iconic actor "P Ramlee" and his movies, as "updated vintage Singapore", with paintings by Asian artists adorning the walls.

Harris also built an impressive-looking doorway arch to the dining area, which he decorates depending on the theme for his parties.

"I really just enjoy doing events for my friends and family," says Harris, who is also director of bespoke jeweller, Arte Oro. "This house is very nice for me to entertain," he adds.

While initially spooked about the possibility of encountering "momoks" (ghosts) living in such an old bungalow, Harris eventually eased into the space and developed a bond with the place.

"I'm really super happy because the house has got a lot of chemistry with me…. And for me, I think it's a very rare privilege to live in a classic Singapore house," states Harris.

A home 'doesn't need to be gigantic'

Wanting to retain much of the "character" of the colonial building meant preserving many elements of the space, such as the kitchen's traditional pink, white and grey-coloured wall tiles.

One of the home's many surprises also includes a concealed room which lies behind an ordinary-looking cabinet in the kitchen. The large space was initially a spare room but now functions as a storage area.

Wrote an envious commenter of the space: "The storeroom bigger than my master bedroom, wth."

Harris has wise words, however, for people who might aspire to own or live in such a house one day.

"Whatever you have, you can make it beautiful, you can make it cosy, you can make it a home, it doesn't need to be gigantic. The bigger it is, there [are] a lot of problems and things you have to take care of," he shares.

Moving on to the second building, which has two different sides to it, the area is shown to be occupied by Harris' mum as well has the family's helpers. The latter's space even features a shower area akin to the outdoor rain showers found in luxury resort villas, "that's open to the sky", says Kwek.

Both Kwek and Koocester agree, however, that the best thing about the estate is its unpretentiousness.

"The house became a home... [it] doesn't feel like they're trying to impress me, as Harris said, they planted everything, it's not a show garden," Kwek explains.

And while viewers were suitably impressed by the GCB's architecture, design and homely vibe, they appear, however, to be far more taken by Harris' affable personality and humility.

As a parting shot, Harris expresses in the clip that he's simply grateful for the opportunity to live in such a historical home.

"I just have a lot of gratitude... I'm really grateful. No matter what happens to this house, I'm just glad that my family and I had this precious time to experience a part of Singapore architecture, Singapore design, Singapore history."

ALSO READ: 'Castle' in Singapore: Inside a $63 million GCB home for sale

candicecai@asiaone.com

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