I have passed the Goldhill landed estate many, many times in my life and, I must confess, sometimes rather patronisingly thought, "It must be so noisy for the people living here!"

Perhaps because it's located right next to ACS and the main road, Dunearn Road gets very busy. It gets so busy that, a friend who sends her kid to the school always tells me she feels very sorry for the people living there. 

Well, the joke is on us, because when I headed over for a walkabout of the area, I realised that it is actually very, very peaceful and spacious inside the estate!

(Obviously, the houses that line the main road do get their fair share of road noise but the ones inside are terrific.) In fact, it's one of the nicest landed areas I've seen in a long time, so let's head on over now to see why!

For those not familiar with the area, let's start with a map to show where we are (basically the red dot above.) As you can see, it's to the left of ACS and Barker Road Methodist Church.

Do you also see the large patch of green just North of Goldhill? That's one of the reasons the estate is such a great place to live in, although you wouldn't have been able to tell looking in from the main road that the estate was hiding such a gem.

Another reason is the proximity of the black and white houses, along Swiss Cottage Road (to the left of Goldhill) and Malcolm Road. As many of these houses come with huge gardens, it makes the area much less densely occupied and much more tranquil.

Sadly, as those of you familiar with the Singapore property market have already guessed, the green space and the Swiss Cottage area are both zoned residential "subject to detailed planning" on the Masterplan. So like many of their counterparts, so they may one day disappear. However, for now, it makes the area a very nice place to live in.

At the end of the road, you reach a T-junction where you can find Goldhill Avenue Playground. It's a simply massive playground given the small number of properties here!

Let's turn 90 degrees anti-clockwise, continue past the playground and see the rest of the area.

Let's wander over to the houses lining Dunearn Road now.

They're semi-Ds! I find it rather refreshing as, objectively speaking, despite being more expensive, they have a less desirable aspect, being located directly next to the main road.

While the "cheaper" terrace houses have the luxury of being located inside the estate, protected from the road noise and enjoying the verdant greenery! (Oftentimes, developers would place the cheaper units in the less desirable spots.) 

Call it a dog in the manger attitude if you will — since I'll never be able to afford a semi-D (or even a terrace house) on a writer's salary — but it's good to see that, for once, the more expensive properties aren't always the "best." (Although "best" is rather subjective and you will still need a lot of money to get a terrace house here!).

Now that I've been waxing poetic about this estate, it's time to share some of the negatives. One would be the before and after school jam along the road, when ACS Primary starts or ends class. I've already mentioned this earlier, so I won't go on about it again.

The second issue would be the lack of amenities and hawker centres. You're very close to Orchard Road- if you drive or take a bus. Newton Food Centre seems close but it's really about a 30 minutes walk away. There isn't really anywhere you can walk to for a cup of coffee on this side of the road, besides the CALTEX shown above. 

You could cross over to the Bukit Timah Road side and in 15 minutes you'll be at Alocassia or Balmoral Plaza. However, both places are pretty small, and somehow I find having to cross the road makes things feel farther away.

There is a tiny Cold Storage at Alocassio and a tiny NTUC at Balmoral Plaza though. You're also about a 15-minute walk from Raffles Town Club (if you're a member.) This isn't a dealbreaker, by any means, but personally, I prefer landed estates with a more village feel, which Goldhill unfortunately doesn't have. 

Well, this brings us to the end of today's tour. Were you as impressed by it as I was? Before we go, some housekeeping issues to mention. I mentioned that the closest amenities were across the road. In case you were wondering, there is an overhead bridge right in front of the estate to take you over.

Secondly, I've mentioned ACS Primary a few times, and being within one kilometre of ACS is a huge selling point for the properties here. You probably already know this but, just in case, I have to highlight that the school is moving to Tenga, and the Barker location will consolidate with the one at Winstedt Road. (Moreover, the estate is also close to three other schools: SCGS, SJI and CJC.) 

ALSO READ: Touring Jalan Seaview landed estate: Large freehold landed houses near the MRT in the east

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.