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With travelling restricted due to COVID-19, you are thinking of the next place of interest to rediscover Singapore?
Due to my job as a magician working with some of the richest families in Singapore, I was able to see all types of amazing houses. There are houses with indoor badminton courts, arcade rooms, and many other amazing things.
A lot are one-of-a-kind houses which I drove past. I decided to do this post after seeing a house with dinosaur and helicopter inside on TikTok! These houses are enough to make you think you are in another country.
Here are some which I know about.
(Disclaimer: These houses are PRIVATE property and are NOT my clients’ house so do NOT intrude or disturb the owners when you go exploring. I passed by some of them and decided to document them for the fun of it.)
1. The Egyptian House
This is NOT in Universal Studios or some theme parks, definitely not in Egypt. Can you believe that this is in Singapore? I have been to several houses in Sentosa Cove but never this one. I would love to see what it is like on the insides. Have anyone been in this house before? Let me know!
*** UPDATE *** Apparently, a very rich man built this to store all his art pieces!
2. The Building with the Gaudi Roof
We became obsessed with Gaudi after visiting Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo in Barcelona (below). We past by this houses on CTE thousands of times but didn’t see it until we were back from our Spain holiday.
Being curious, I cycled to this 12-storey building, along Keng Lee Road near Novena to investigate. These are the information I managed to gather from The New Paper and Sunday Times in 2009 as well as other sources:
- Businessman O. K. Mohamed Haniffa, who is in his 80s, built it to house his family of 15 and five helpers. Mr Mohamed is the chairman of textile and garment company Haniffa on Dunlop Street.
- The family used to live in a three-storey bungalow on the same plot of land before moving into their new $9-million apartment building in January 2009.
- Each of Mr Mohamed’s five children gets two floors in the apartment block, which works out to two units of 221.42 sq m each.
- Every family lives in one unit, while the second one is kept for future family members
- Each unit has four bedrooms with attached bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room.
- There is swimming pool on the rooftop.
The roof is very distinctly Gaudi-style though most sources I read didn’t mention this, except for an article by Tata Steel. However, the main structure is oblong with Islamic motifs, making this building a very mish-mash fusion style.
Frankly, I was more interested by why was the building built this way OR who the architect was. I couldn’t find any information on it so please do let me know if you can provide more information.
3. Gorilla on the Gentle.
Also in Novena area, opposite Revenue House, not only the owners have put the 2 stone statues of lions, similar to what you would see outside the New York library, but also a Black Gorilla guarding the house.
Why? Maybe Fengshui? If anyone knows, do comment below.
4. All Roads Lead to Rome in Singapore?
Roman Warrior Statues in Singapore 
If you thought that the White Building at Balestier Road with the Sikh guards (Jagas) is unique, wait till you see these houses near Yio Chu Kang Road (Bagonia / Saraca Road).
Instead of the usual Chinese Stone Lions, the owners up the ante by having life size Roman Warriors on the pillars! Perhaps the owners wanted a Italian themed home? However, the houses inside looks pretty like any normal Singapore houses.
5. Another House with Roman Guards?
Apparently, there is another house with Roman guards. If you exit from SLE onto Upper Thomson, you may spot 4 of these warriors standing tall and ready for battle.
Downstairs of this house is the friendlier Bugs Bunny and friends.
6. Your Adventure Begins Here: Superhero and Animal House
How many superheroes can you spot at this home? I found Spiderman, Superman, Green Lantern and Batman.
How many types of animals can you find? Ok, I lost count.
I am guessing that the owner of this house off Upper Changi Road at is a collector and would buy over these 2nd hand fiberglass statues to display in his home. (After events, we do have these structures for sale or even throw them away!) Even his neighbours are influenced! You can see horses, lion and stork at other houses near by too.
There is an interesting sign which says “Your Adventure Begins Here”. I wonder what it “means”?
7. Jurassic House
I saw this house near Sixth Avenue recently on TikTok and hence the reason for this blog post!
At the entrance of this house is what looks like a kind of pelycosaur, like dimetrodon. There is like a raptor on the side and a pterodactyl hidden on top of the trees. There are also some monkeys hanging from the branches. The fake cliff as the entrance looks like the scene from Jurassic Park.
Having organised numerous dinosaur parties and events, I was naturally curious about it. I have friends who kept fossils as hobby, but never a full size figurine of dinosaur. In fact, we threw away quite a few of the dinosaurs because we simply have no space to store them!
To top it up, this house at Astrid Hill has a helicopter parked on the rooftop! I am guessing that in case the Jurassic reptiles suddenly come alive, they have a getaway vehicle.
8. Train Houses
You may have mistaken these houses for a ship or camera. But I am pretty sure these terrace houses are designed to look like trains since they are near the Old Bukit Timah Railway Station and the newly opened rail corridor. If anyone know who designed this or lives there, comment on my blog.
9. Pirate Ship House
According to DayDayNews, the owner of this house made a fortune selling herbal tea in Indonesia. The house was specially designed and built by Disney Studios. The design of the house also caters to the pirate style, and the owner’s child’s room is designed to look like a dungeon.
Because the owner loves his wife very much, he specially invited a Singapore mural artist to the ceiling of his bedroom. Kamijou Mermaid’s face is painted according to his wife’s appearance.
There is also a mural in their house, which makes the whole family look like pirates.
Do you know of any other unique houses in Singapore?
Do you know of any other unique houses in Singapore which I may have missed out? Do let me know and I will be happy to include in this blog. If you have been inside the above houses, please let me know how it is like! (Without revealing any private information of course!)
On that note, Singapore has lots of lovely houses, amid the most expensive ones. (I remember one good class bungalow was sold for more than $200 million!)
If you like the above houses, you will probably like The Flintstone themed house built in total Antonio Gaudi-style in Johor or the Unique Black and White house tour offered by Klook (which I was lucky to visit a few because my clients rented them.).
Remember to share this post with your friends! Singapore is full of interesting places to see if you open your eyes wide enough!
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