What it's like to live in a pre-war shophouse in the Katong and Joo Chiat area

A pre-war shophouse on Crane Road, just off Haig Road. The home is actually two shophouses combined to make a larger home of six self-contained units. It is the brainchild of Ong Chin Hwee, a Singaporean who works in his family shipping business.

The chance to live in a pre-war shophouse set in the old neighbourhood of Katong/Joo Chiat proved too “irresistible” for Thomas Doctor of Denmark, so within just three weeks of arriving in Singapore, he signed on the dotted line of the lease for a home on Crane Road, just off Haig Road. “This place is so charming. And the neighbourhood is lovely,” he enthuses.

The academic, who has a PhD in Buddhist Studies and works at the National University of Singapore, had looked at some of the neighbourhoods closer to his workplace including Holland Village, however, he was sold on Katong/Joo Chiat. The rental was affordable too. “I didn’t expect to be able to live in something like this because of the cost and the likelihood of even finding a place like this,” he adds of his good luck.

Interior of one of the units in a pre-war shophouse on Crane Road, just off Haig Road. This unit belongs to Dr Thomas Doctor and his family.

But if it all sounds a bit too good to be true, it is, in a way. While Dr Doctor (his real name actually, traceable, he says, back to the 16th century) and wife, Sutavan and daughter, Bodhi-Tara, do now live in a pre-war shophouse in a neighbourhood of their choice, they have to make some sacrifices. For a start, they have to share their home with other tenants.

A quick check on Internet residential rental portals reveals that the rents in the same vicinity for conservation shophouses are around S$10,000 per month. At Dr Doctor’s home in Crane Road, tenants pay between S$1,500 and S$3,500 per month for studios and one-bedroom self-contained units. There are some shared spaces and facilities as well as a communal internal courtyard and a shared address. And all this suits Dr Doctor just fine. “It’s a little small for a family but you get so much quality of life,” he says.

The home is actually two shophouses combined to make a larger home of six self-contained units. It is the brainchild of Ong Chin Hwee, a Singaporean who works in his family shipping business and also happens to live in the same neighbourhood. Mr Ong reveals that when he and his family bought the first house several years ago, the plan was to create a family home where his two other siblings and their parents could live together. “My parents would have liked that,” he adds. When the neighbouring house came up for sale, Mr Ong decided to buy that too and create an even bigger house. Under building guidelines, the two-storey shophouses could have four-storey extensions at the back. So with the help of Ong & Ong Architects, the rear extension was built.

The common staircase with its multi-purpose steel cage storage-cum-handrail that rises to the roof.

With so much space and the privacy of self-contained units, each with kitchenettes, Mr Ong’s home would have been perfect for a multi-generation home. Oddly, there are no communal living rooms. Instead, there are two communal kitchen/dining areas. This apparently was to pre-empt any future family turf wars between the in-laws. “The kitchen is a potential area of conflict,” says Mr Ong with a grin.

The home was completed about a year ago and so far, only Mr Ong’s younger brother Xi Bin, who was married last November, has moved in with his wife. The other units have all been rented out. The younger Mr Ong was not involved in the development of the new home but is nevertheless enjoying the experience. “I have never lived in a hostel before – this is the closest thing to it,” he jokes. Calling himself a “semi-professional struggling artist”, he has put his mark on the building already by creating an artwork – a spray-painted portrait of a cat – on his balcony wall. “I would not have done this at my parent’s home,” he adds. And he credits the spurt of inspiration to his new living environment. Describing it as “vibrant”, he adds: “The design of your environment can give you a creative boost.”

Mr Ong Xi Bin, who calls himself a ‘semi-professional struggling artist’, has a spray painted portrait of a cat on his balcony wall at his unit in a pre-war shophouse on Crane Road, just off Haig Road.

This vibrancy is generated by the subtle reverberations along the lines of the indoor and outdoor spaces of the units facing the courtyard. The spaces are connected horizontally by generously wide walkways and vertically by the common staircase with its multi-purpose steel cage storage-cum-handrail that rises to the roof.

Above: The two communal kitchen/dining areas in a pre-war shophouse on Crane Road, just off Haig Road.

“The staircase is like a street that connects everyone,” adds Mark Wee of Ong & Ong Architects. Of the two communal kitchen/dining areas, the one on the second floor is open to the central courtyard, as is the communal laundry area on the third floor, creating zones of porosity and ambiguity that add to the general sense of informal communal living.

“We usually keep our doors open,” adds Manola Pegoraro who lives in a double storey one-bedroom unit. The Italian, who is taking a break from work in the financial sector, finds herself gravitating towards the open kitchen/dining area often where her housemates also go when they want company. “I utilise this house entirely,” she adds.

Interior of a double storey one-bedroom unit in a pre-war shophouse on Crane Road, just off Haig Road. This unit belongs to Italian Manola Pegoraro, who is taking a break from work in the financial sector.

Previously, Ms Pegoraro lived in a condominium. While she does concede that facilities such as the swimming pool are convenient, the shophouse lifestyle she has now is more akin to the way Europeans live. “I like the doors and windows,” she adds, referring to the timber-framed doors and shuttered windows.

Interestingly, while the two houses now have conservation status, the doors, windows and even the facade are not original. Mr Wee reveals that the two houses had very plain facades originally but the new owners wanted to “bring back something of value” to the neighbourhood. So to create a more decorative facade, mouldings were cast on the facade of a shophouse nearby that had prettier features. Plaster casts were made from these and then added to the plain facades. Mr Wee adds that they have, in a sense, “invented history”.

Ong & Ong Architects were also responsible for the interiors and much of the furniture in the home. Artfully chosen, the vintage furniture has a retro 1950s vibe that would be familiar to many first-generation Singaporeans. But because quality vintage furniture is hard to find here, Mr Wee says the furniture in this home had to be imported from Australia.

The feature pieces of furniture that were chosen by the architects, such as a dining table with a pink Formica top, all have a patina of age. Faded upholstery and chipped-off paint adds to the air of nostalgia that is exactly what these happy new Katong/Joo Chiat residents want.

Written by Arthur Sim for The Business Times.