When I was touring Joo Chiat Avenue a few weeks ago, I noticed that there was an eatery with good reviews nearby (The Brewing Ground.) I decided to return to check it out and, on the same street (Joo Chiat Place, which is the road parallel to Joo Chiat Avenue) I saw there was a charming row of vintage terrace houses.
The houses stood out as they are still in their original condition: two storeys high and without a maximised plot ratio, something pretty rare in land-scarce Singapore.
I even had the opportunity to tour one, and noticed the entrance to the toilet on the ground floor is located outside the house. You need to exit the house and go into the backyard, to get to the downstairs loo. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Let's start our tour at Telok Kurau Park, which is located at the end of Joo Chiat Place, dividing it from Frankel Estate, then make our way down to The Brewing Ground and Parkway East Hospital.
Here I am standing at the end of Joo Chiat Place, looking into Telok Kurau Park. PHOTO: StackedhomesA vintage house to my left. PHOTO: Stackedhomes The road leading to Joo Chiat Avenue. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe nearby park for residents. PHOTO: StackedhomesIt was drizzling when I visited which could explain why the park was so empty. PHOTO: StackedhomesThis looks to be a very nice community garden. PHOTO: StackedhomesSome seating (but no shade) in the park, and the Frankel Estate houses in front. PHOTO: StackedhomesSome outdoor exercise equipment. PHOTO: StackedhomesA Resident's Hub for the community. PHOTO: StackedhomesThere's quite a lot of exercise equipment. PHOTO: StackedhomesHere I'm walking back toward Joo Chiat Place. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe road linking Joo Chiat Avenue and Joo Chiat Place in front of me. PHOTO: StackedhomesOne of the vintage houses. PHOTO: StackedhomesIn between the houses on Joo Chiat Avenue and Joo Chiat Place is an alleyway, which spaces out the two rows of houses. PHOTO: StackedhomesLooking down the alley. I saw some people use it as a place to hang their laundry, which seems quite handy, and more convenient than hanging one's laundry on the front gate; that's something I've seen in other landed estates. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe row of vintage houses. It's nice when all the houses in a row look the same. PHOTO: StackedhomesInterestingly, the row of houses opposite has mostly been redeveloped into more modern looking properties. PHOTO: StackedhomesPhoto of both rows of houses in one frame. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe street was pretty empty when I visited. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe residents are probably sensitive about people parking here illegally, and possibly blocking driveways. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
Looking at the Masterplan, both the vintage and modern row of houses have been zoned 1.4 (i.e. able to build into apartments of up to five stories.)
A last look at the vintage houses before we cross the side street leading to Joo Chiat Walk. After this the houses don't look too different from the ones found in the rest of Singapore. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesThe junction leading to Joo Chiat Walk. PHOTO: StackedhomesNotice the yellow lines on the road (i.e. no street parking here.) As mentioned earlier, there is a small car park near The Brewing Ground/ The Yards but note you have to pay for parking. It was pretty empty when I visited on a weekday, but it may be full on the weekends as there are some enrichment centres such as a football school and music college here. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesThe more modern looking terrace houses. PHOTO: StackedhomesA head-on view so you can have a better view of the size of the car porch. The vintage houses are also able to house a car in the front yard — I checked. PHOTO: StackedhomesSeparating some of the houses are more alleyways, which also provide pedestrians with a shortcut to the different streets in the neighbourhood. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesHere is what the view is like when you're standing inside the alleyway itself. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
Have you noticed something? So far most of the units we've seen have only been two storeys high despite the plot ratio allowing owners to build higher.
PHOTO: StackedhomesBut we do see a few taller buildings. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesAs we get close to The Yards/ Brewing Ground, we also find more cars parked along the road. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesWe've reached The Yards now (so about halfway down Joo Chiat Place.) PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesMore buildings that were demolished and rebuilt higher. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesI've walked into The Yards so you can see exactly how much space there is for your visitors to park. These four photos show the car park. PHOTO: StackedhomesPast The Yards and we reach the Telok Kurau Road — Joo Chiat Place junction. PHOTO: StackedhomesCross Telok Kurau Road and you'll see Joo Chia Place still continues. PHOTO: Stackedhomes Almost exactly at the junction is where we find the Parkway East Hospital. (I've not seen/ heard any ambulances go by during my two to three visits to the landed enclave.) PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesNear the hospital are some eateries. PHOTO: StackedhomesLooking down the next stretch of Joo Chiat Place. PHOTO: StackedhomesThere's a Peranakan place hiding inside. It was not indicated on Google maps. PHOTO: StackedhomesA bus stop. The houses here have also been built higher than the ones we saw before. Even though we are still on Joo Chiat Place, this part has a very different feel. The previous area felt more residential whilst this part feels like it gets a lot of through traffic. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe buses that stop here. PHOTO: StackedhomesAn oncology clinic. PHOTO: StackedhomesMore terrace houses. PHOTO: StackedhomesPassing the entrance to the hospital. PHOTO: StackedhomesMore houses but this time with a slightly more private entrance that is not on the main road. This side street is also Joo Chiat Place, in case you're wondering. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesA new residential project under construction, Straits at Joo Chiat. According to its website, it is a new "freehold luxury" project with 15 units. You can view the showflat online here. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesYet more landed properties, followed by a row of boutique condos, such as Glenfield Apartments, Sunshine Mansions, Eastern Residence etc. PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesAcross the road are some landed properties that have been redeveloped to take advantage of the 1.4 plot ratio zoning so you can see the full potential of the landed houses here. They're so imposing they could be mistaken for boutique condos! PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesNext are two detached properties in original condition. Houses in this original vintage style are becoming increasingly rare in Singapore. PHOTO: StackedhomesWe've now reached the junction with Still Road. Across the street is Willing Hearts, a charity soup kitchen. PHOTO: StackedhomesThis is quite a busy junction — looking to the right so you can see the traffic situation for yourself. PHOTO: StackedhomesLooking across Still Road where you can find more commercial units. None are along the parts of Joo Chiat Road we just toured. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
This brings us to the end of today's tour. Did you notice anything unusual about this landed enclave?
For one, we didn't see any standalone pre-schools on it! You can often find educational centres for young kids in landed estates in Singapore; I'm not counting the ones located in The Yard.
However, no fear as there's one very close by, on Joo Chiat Avenue. In fact, I think this is a better situation as the pre-school is close enough to be within walking distance; but not so close that you'll be able to hear the kids all day.
