Home Tour: A retired couple built an impressive landed house across two plots of land

The Wall House, completed in 2016, emerges as a breathtaking architectural symphony, a multigenerational sanctuary where design transcends mere structure to become a profound meditation on family, connection, and the delicate dance between individual identity and shared love.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks
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In the intricate landscape of Asian family dynamics, home is far more than a physical structure – it’s a living, breathing narrative of connection, respect, and shared history. When a retired couple purchased the neighboring plot of land for their child, they weren’t simply acquiring real estate; they were choreographing an architectural ballet that would honour their family’s most profound bonds.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Two plots of land

Named ‘The Wall House’, this house emerged not merely as a design project, but as a deeply personal journey of architectural innovation. Conceived by the cross-disciplinary design studio Farm, this luxury home in Singapore represents a profound meditation on how spaces can simultaneously unite and respect individual identities.

The solution was elegantly simple yet revolutionary: two distinct blocks joined on the ground floor, with private living spaces carefully separated on the upper storey.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Landed property landscaping

The design’s philosophical core lies in its celebration of connection and autonomy. Like two dancers moving in harmonious synchronicity, the blocks engage in a delicate architectural dialogue.

Wide green spaces become the stage for this performance, creating visual connections that transcend physical boundaries. Trees rising from the ground floor through meticulously designed openings become living metaphors – their roots anchored together, their canopies reaching toward individual horizons.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Landed house water features

Water becomes the home’s narrative thread, a meditative element that speaks of flow and continuity. The carefully designed water feature is more than mere decoration; it’s a liquid bridge connecting generations, its gentle movement a constant reminder of life’s fluid nature.

Strategic landscaping maintains a nuanced separation, creating a sense of individual identity while preserving an overarching familial harmony.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Skylight with trees

In The Wall House, trees become more than botanical elements – they are living architectural participants, weaving an extraordinary narrative of connection and continuity. Imagine a tree that begins its journey on the ground floor, its roots anchored in carefully curated soil, then deliberately rises through a precisely engineered opening, its trunk and branches piercing through the architectural plane to emerge triumphantly on the second floor.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Privacy Plamts

Landscaping in the Wall House is not mere decoration, but a carefully choreographed dialogue between built environment and natural world. The two architectural blocks, though physically close, are kept in a delicate conversation through a sophisticated landscape design that celebrates separation and connection.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Wood-clad ceilings

Materials tell their own rich story of contrast and connection. Wood-clad ceilings embrace marble-clad walls in a tactile conversation that speaks of tradition and modernity. Muted grey and neutral tones evoke a Zen-like atmosphere, transforming the space into a contemplative sanctuary that transcends mere physical design. Each surface, each texture becomes a whisper of the family’s collective journey.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks
Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Landed house entryway

The entrance makes a bold philosophical statement. A dramatic feature wall of jutting granite blocks, accentuated by carefully placed uplights, becomes a powerful metaphor for the home’s core concept – individual strength within a unified whole.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Low wall TV console

A low wall in the main living area serves as an ingenious TV console, maintaining a sense of spaciousness that allows both physical and emotional breathing room.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Kitchen design

Furniture becomes an extension of the architectural narrative. Each piece stands as a deliberate sculptural statement, its geometric forms echoing the home’s fundamental design language. Square-edged sofas with clean, uncompromising lines create visual anchors that seem to grow directly from the floor, blurring the boundaries between furniture and architecture.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Entertainment room

Imagine a space where interior and exterior boundaries dissolve, where architecture breathes and light dances. The entertainment room’s large sliding glass doors become more than mere openings – they are transformative portals that invite the wooden deck into the home’s interior narrative. With a single, fluid motion, these doors collapse the distinction between inside and outside, creating a seamless living experience that feels both expansive and intimately connected.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Timber ceiling

In this beautifully curated space, the timber ceiling transcends its structural role to become a captivating interior highlight. Each wooden plank tells a story of craftsmanship, its grain and texture speaking of forests, of time, of natural rhythms. Soft light plays across its surface, creating a living canvas that changes throughout the day – sometimes warm and golden, sometimes cool and contemplative.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Live wood dining table

Along the pool area, a live wood table emerges as a centerpiece of design poetry. Its organic form mirrors the intricate timber paneling of the ceiling, creating a visual conversation between different spaces. Every knot, every natural curve in the wood tells a story of its origin, of growth rings that mark years of silent transformation.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

U-shaped walls

Where traditional spaces might feel open and undefined, the U-shaped walls in the Wall House become creators of intimate moments. These architectural interventions segment spaces with surgical precision, carving out cozy nooks that invite personal expression. Each nook becomes a small sanctuary – a place for cherished objects, for quiet reflection, for the small, meaningful displays that tell a family’s unique story.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Lattice screen panels

Wood and metal lattice screens become the home’s storytellers, transforming light into a dynamic, ever-changing artwork. These intricate screens are not mere barriers but complex filters that play with perception. Sunlight stream through their geometric patterns, casting elaborate shadows that dance across floors and walls, creating a living, breathing visual poetry that changes with every passing hour.

The importance of ambient lighting

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

As evening descends, the home transforms. Muted tones are softened by a warm, subtle glow that seems to emerge from within, like the internal light of family connection. Even the washrooms become moments of architectural poetry, with glass walls overlooking narrow plots of greenery, inviting natural light and maintaining a delicate connection with the surrounding landscape.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

Landed house bathroom design

Positioned strategically along the border wall, the space reveals the architects’ profound understanding of personal retreat. Glass walls look out into a narrow, meticulously curated plot of greenery, transforming what could be a mundane space into a moment of connection with nature.

Photos: Bryan van der Beek, Edward Hendricks

The Wall House transcends the traditional concept of a luxury home in Singapore. It is a living, breathing manifestation of the invisible threads that bind generations. In every carefully considered detail, in every thoughtful transition between spaces, the home whispers of love, of continuity, of a family’s shared journey captured in stone, wood, and light.

Here, architecture becomes more than shelter. It becomes a language of love, a physical expression of the most profound human connections – where individuality and unity dance in perfect, breathtaking harmony.

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