Home Tour: $500,000 Renovation for a musician’s terrace house on Jalan Gembira
“I was going for an Art Deco x Cuban-esque look with a modern tropical twist. I also took a page out of the Great Madras Hotel.”
By Shannon Osztonits -
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It’s giving Tulum. It’s giving tropicana. It’s giving delicious light.
(It’s giving, I just want to move into this home ASAP.)
Dazzling your eyes and warming hearts with its soft limewash finishes, open and airy spacing, rawness and natural materials, homeowner Joseph Teo’s landed terrace is a masterpiece of design.
Lending to the property’s Riviera Maya feels is the low-rise nature of the building, representative of Singaporean landed terraces. Patio and entrances sit below overhangs, doused in a plethora of greenery and jutting ferns. Its clean, flat and square geometric shape is also typical of the Cuban Art Deco-meets-Tulum architectural styles.
“We angled the front door sideways for privacy and decided against installing auto-gates,” says Joseph. “The previous owners also had none, and we liked the open, very non-Singapore feel of it, so we kept that. It also gives the frontage a more spacious look.”
Working with interior designer Ean from Wonder+ (who strays away from any type of “cookie-cutter” style) on his previous home renovation, for this one, the conductor and music director sought something completely different.
“I wanted a house to stand out for the right reasons without being overly loud. Comfort was important, but so was practicality. The aim was to create a home that feels warm, intentional and aesthetically thoughtful. From the exterior, it must exude a sense of quiet confidence (that it is striking) without being outlandish,” the homeowner tells. “My previous home was dark and very monochromatic, full of blacks and greys. It was cosy for a while, but I eventually wanted more warmth.”
The top of the staircase. Walls and ceiling are all painted in the same limewash.
Who Lives Here: A 39-year-old Singaporean conductor/music director and educator, and his two Shiba Inu dogs, aged 6 and 12 years old
Home: Freehold landed inter-terrace house
Size: 1,500 sq ft (buildup)
Interior designer: Wonder+
Discovering this gorgeous landed terrace was somewhat of a chance encounter for the homeowner. Surveying larger spaces, it was after visiting a friend (now turned neighbour) living in the exact estate that he explored the possibility of landed living.
“I realised it gave me the kind of space and lifestyle I didn’t know I wanted. This is one of the rare landed homes that sits close to all the amenities yet still offers the privacy and space I wanted, so it felt like an obvious choice.”
Levels
The home boasts three levels, including two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
- Level 1: Living area, dining space, kitchen, the airwell and granny room
- Level 2: Balcony, master bedroom, primary bathroom, walk-in wardrobe and vanity
- Level 3: Study, working studio
“I also have a studio on the third level, which could be converted into a bedroom if needed,” Joseph explains.
Unique Airwell Design
The air flow throughout the house is stunning.
“For this house, my priorities were natural light, openness, airiness and a sense of ease when walking through the space.”
To help create this, the design team kept the home’s original airwell intact and planted a tall, wispy tree in the middle of it. On one side is the granny room, the other side is the open-concept kitchen and dining area. Thanks to the airwell, the natural light is unblocked and filters through both spaces beautifully.
“The greenery also preserves a gentle connection to the outdoors, which is calming for anyone in the room,” says Joseph .
The entire home, including the staircase, is limewashed from walls to ceiling.
Earthy Staircase
The staircase instantly transports you, making one feel as if walking through a coastal villa in Mexico. It’s a harmonious experience: the central window allows the outside plants to peek through, drawing in this feeling of indoors-outdoors simultaneously.
Natural materials are incorporated with a wood balustrade. The staircase flooring is done using vinyl from Timeless Furnishings. Lighting up the pathway are LED strips beneath the railing, as well as the obrounded pendant lights, from the lighting specialist brand, Luxxbox.
Acoustic lighting
Luxxbox creates special acoustic lighting. They design ‘fixtures that not only look great and illuminate but also utilize the space between ceiling and desk to absorb distracting noise.’
Considering Joseph’s line of work and passion for sound, it makes sense that his home is one sporting these unique lights.
Teaching and conducting local school and community wind bands (@novowinds), he conducts a variety of genres ranging from classical to pop or modern works.
The kitchen and dining area are part of an open concept, with the airwell in front.
Neutral Palette Kitchen
The kitchen is a reflection of lightness, provided by the warmth of sunlight entering through the airwell windows and the neutral colour palette of earthy tones.
The entire home follows pursuit: a one-way wall to ceiling limewash paint from Novacolour, Italy, painted by Esperto Paint, who specialise in textured appearances. Flooring is vinyl (Timeless Furnishings), adding cosiness to the space. Lightly-coloured kitchen cabinets are custom carpentry. A Miele oven and stove are paired with a sleek and concealed Fisher and Paykel hood.
A quartz island sits in the kitchen’s half of the room, outlining a clear pathway between this section and the dining area. A sliding door near the sink leads to the granny room. Wooden slat grills in the ceiling camouflage the AC unit.
Homeowner Joseph's favourite space is the dining area.
Open-concept Dining Area
“It is where everyone comes together for meals and conversations,” he explains. “In a multi-level house, it is easy for people to just go off to different floors. The whole place can feel very cold, so this space becomes a central point for that very comforting point of connection.”
A travertine stone tabletop is built in front of a custom carpentry bench, with shelves constructed into its base. Another Luxxbox lighting fixture hangs above the dining table, this one sporting a horizontal curved pendant light design.
Homeowner Joseph wanted continuity between all floors, and the flooring in the living room is the same as the rest of the house.
Living Room Design
The floor-to-ceiling custom-built bookshelf filled with ceramics, knick-knacks and figurines — including pieces by Gongkan, one of Joseph’s favourite contemporary Thai pop artists — is a standout feature within the room. Introducing softer lines, the shelves curve at the ends (as opposed to ending flat), mirroring the rest of the home’s curvatures. Behind the shelving is a concealed storage area below the staircase.
A United Strangers sofa (purchased from Journey East along with the side table) provides the perfect amount of curves to the living room, accentuated by the massive circular hessian-style carpet.
The shelves facing inward look to the walk-in wardrobe. The wall with the TV on it faces the bed.
Master Bedroom with walk-in closet
“Most terraces of this type have two or three rooms on the second level,” describes Joseph. “For us, we converted the entire floor into one large master bedroom and a walk-in wardrobe. This gave us generous storage and a sense of openness.”
The sleeping area is partitioned off, creating a very restful and zen-like space. The bed is placed on platform storage. Glass fluted panels provide privacy from the walk-in area, allowing light from a connected balcony to filter through the master bedroom.
The entire walk-in closet features custom carpentry.
The walk-in-wardrobe features ample closet space, mirrors, hooks on the wall and a Betty TK4 bench by &Tradition.
“I love their contemporary-meets-classic Danish aesthetic,” says this musician.
The primary bathroom sticks to the same colour palette as the rest of the home.
Primary Bathroom Design
The master en suite is one room, however, the toilet and shower are sectioned off from the vanity with a door. Within the primary bathroom is the toilet and shower. The vanity is outside, allowing two people to access both the vanity and the shower and toilet at the same time, instead of it all being one space.
Above the toilet is a powder pink shelf from a Kartell x Laufen collection, chosen for being humidity-friendly.
Floors and walls are all tiled in a natural creamy tone.
Renovation Takeouts
While this was not Joseph’s first renovation rodeo, it is his first build.
“Coming from a condo, you don’t deal with roofs, façades, car porches or external maintenance. With a landed home, everything is suddenly your responsibility. It’s more work, but there’s also more freedom — like being able to redesign an entire exterior.”
Something else the homeowner learned along the journey is that homes built prior to the 1990s in Singapore often used asbestos roofing. Thankfully, the previous owners had this replaced, saving Joseph from any potential hazards, as well as money, as it requires specialised handling to remove this type of roof.