I walked through an enclave of 150 historic shophouses just off Singapore's famous shopping street. It was clear to see why the homes are coveted by the city-state's rich.
Katie Warren
- Emerald Hill is a historic residential neighborhood tucked away in central Singapore.
- Once a nutmeg orchard, the area is known for its "Chinese Baroque" shophouses that are now multimillion-dollar homes.
- The area's exclusivity is fueled by the fact that there are only 150 homes, according to local real-estate broker Kaizar Karkaria.
Emerald Hill is an historic residential neighborhood tucked away between the skyscrapers in central Singapore.
Once a nutmeg orchard, the area was "developed into a fashionable abode for wealthy Chinese and Straits-Chinese merchants and their families" in the early 1900s, according to Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority.
To preserve the neighborhood's historic architecture, Singapore designated Emerald Hill a protected conservation area in 1989.
It's just off Orchard Road, Singapore's busiest and most famous shopping street, where the shopping centers are full of Louis Vuitton and Rolex boutiques.
Source: Insider
Despite the hustle and bustle of the nearby shopping street, Emerald Hill exudes a certain calm.
When I walked down Emerald Hill Road on a recent afternoon, it was quiet and serene, with only the occasional passing car or pedestrian.
The homes on Emerald Hill feature ornate facades and plasterwork and are part of an architectural style known as "Chinese Baroque," according to Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Homes in Emerald Hill typically sell for between 5 million and 18 million Singapore dollars, according to local real-estate broker Kaizar Karkaria Karkaria (between $3.7 million and $13.3 million).
"Each shophouse, in essence, is a unique one-of-a-kind art piece, like a Monet or Mona Lisa which cannot be torn down, recreated, or changed from the outside," Karkaria said. "The people who own them, essentially own a piece of Singapore's history that can be passed down to future generations."
This turquoise shophouse with brown shutters is listed as a rental for SG$18,000, or $13,275, per month.
The renovation of the home cost SG$1 million, or nearly $800,000, according to the listing.
Some of the homes currently for sale on Emerald Hill include a $14 million four-bedroom shophouse with a private car park and koi pond, and another shophouse for $12.5 million.
Many of the homes on Emerald Hill feature pops of bright color.
Many of the homes' colorful tiles and panels feature Chinese motifs like birds and flowers, according to the Singapore National Heritage Board.
Most of the shophouses have continuous covered walkways known as "five-foot ways" thanks to their width of about five feet, which are often lined with chairs and plants.
Many of the homes have also retained their "pintu pagars," or fence-like pairs of revolving doors.
As it meets Cairnhill Road, Emerald Hill Road does have a few apartment buildings - and the apartments don't come cheap, either.
In this building, 111 Emerald Hill, apartments sell for between $3.7 million and $5 million, while the apartments rent for between about $10,300 and $18,000 per month, according to listing database PropertyGuru.
Toward the other end of Emerald Hill near Orchard Road, some of the historic buildings have been transformed into cocktail or wine bars.
Foreigners are largely banned from buying landed properties like shophouses in Singapore, so Emerald Hill's historic homes mostly belong to "Singaporean families who love the rich history" of the homes, Karkaria said.
The homes can be seen as "rare collectibles," as they're not extremely large and do require some work to maintain, Karkaria said.
"However, knowing that you have received or you are able to purchase a shophouse on Emerald Hill is knowing that you are blessed to be able to have a coveted piece of Singapore's architectural history," he said.
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