The English House at Mohamed Sultan on the market for $160 mil

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

February 23, 2024 9:00 AM SGT

The entrance steps leading to The English House at 28 and 29 Mohamed Sultan Road (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

The two adjoining conservation shophouses at 28 and 29 Mohamed Sultan Road have undergone several reincarnations over the past 127 years. Once the private dwelling of a wealthy Peranakan Chinese merchant, it morphed into Madam Wong’s in the 1990s, a club with an Oriental theme that played retro music.

Since September 2018, it has operated as The English House, a restaurant serving English classics such as traditional fish and chips, shepherd’s pie and traditional Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding. The concept for the restaurant and the menu was the brainchild of British chef, restaurateur and TV personality Marco Pierre White.

White also created the concept and design of the shophouses. Many fixtures and vintage furniture pieces were sourced from the UK, with some from White’s private collection. Antique furniture includes the 19th-century shelves from Birmingham Library, the Rolls-Royce boardroom table from the 1940s (now the dining table in the private room) and an old wooden dining table from an English farmhouse. Even the sculptures, antiques, curios, framed black and white photographs of celebrities by British photographer Terry O’Neill, and vintage whisky collection were curated by White, uniquely for the property.

The private room with a dining table that used to grace the boardroom of Rolls-Royce in the 1940s (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

A Singaporean businessman who only wants to be known as Mr Yeo owns the pair of conservation shophouses at Mohamed Sultan and bankrolled the project. “When we first bought the shophouses, they were in a very appalling state,” relates Yeo. “There was no roof. It was like a gothic haunted house.”

The restoration of the shophouses took several years, with artisans flown in from the UK. What could not be restored had to be painstakingly recreated. The flagstone flooring, bathroom tiles, doors and door handles were also imported from the UK. Yeo declined to disclose the amount spent on the project except to say it was “in the millions”.

Yeo and White have been friends for many years: “It was just fated,” according to Yeo. “We crossed paths and found that we share a similar philosophy in life.”

The property will be sold lock, stock and barrel, which includes even Marco Pierre White’s collection (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

‘Passion project’

From the start, The English House was more than just a commercial business; It was a passion project. “A lot of emotion went into it too,” says Yeo. “We have constantly put money back into the business. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, we kept all our staff and they were paid in full so that we could restart the business as soon as restrictions were lifted.”

According to caveats lodged with URA Realis, the pair of shophouses at Mohamed Sultan changed hands in July 2006 for $9.18 million. Less than a year later, in May 2007, it was sold for $12.38 million. A property title search showed that the buyer is Elmeader, a company where Yeo is a director.

When he first purchased the two properties in 2007, they were zoned “residential with commercial at first storey” under the earlier Master Plan, according to EdgeProp Inspector. Under the Master Plan 2019, it was rezoned “commercial”.

Source: URA Master Plan 2019

Initial plans were for the upper floor and attic level to be converted into hotel rooms. Getting approval took over three years. In the end, it was approved for the operation of 17 serviced apartment units. However, before the serviced apartments could take off, the Covid pandemic hit in early 2020.

The English House was inspired by the Rudloe Arms, a hotel, bar and restaurant in Bath, UK, that White had taken over in 2012. The Victorian-era house sits on 14 acres of land in the Wiltshire town of Corsham, just outside Bath. It has been a hotel since 1961, with 10 rooms in the main house, 36 rooms in the newer Treetop Houses next door and three shepherd huts. The property also has a restaurant, bar, private dining room and four lounges.

One of the 17 serviced apartments at the attic level of The English House (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

‘Lock, stock and barrel’

Yeo now wants to sell the pair of shophouses at Mohamed Sultan Road “lock, stock and barrel”. “We are selling a piece of history,” he says. “It’s a trophy asset with the largest vintage whisky collection, memorabilia from Anthony Bourdain, antiques and curios curated by Marco Pierre White, and restaurant concept and design by him.”

He intends to find a new location “to continue the legacy, but with a new concept”. Yeo says he is looking for another heritage building with character.

Simon Monteiro, the associate vice-president of List Sotheby’s International Realty, has been appointed the exclusive marketing agent for the sale of The English House. “It’s an exciting crossover,” says Monteiro. “While the architecture is very Chinese, the furnishing and collectables are all very English.”

Dr Julian Davidson, the author of three books (Singapore Shophouse, Black and White and Swan & Maclaren: A Story of Singapore Architecture) and a historian, recently published a research report on the history of the shophouses at 28 and 29 Mohamed Sultan Road. Davidson discovered in his research that they were built in 1897 as private dwellings for wealthy Peranakan Chinese merchant Tan Tong Watt and his relative Tan Quee Seng. Architect Wee Teck Moh designed both houses.

Read also: Properties for Sale: Craig Road and Farrer Park

According to Davidson, Wee was a prolific architect who designed about 30 shophouses along Mohamed Sultan Road between 1892 and 1900, of which at least a third belonged to Tan Tong Watt. Tan commissioned Wee to design a row of six townhouses on a neighbouring street and applied to the Municipal Commissioners to request that the street bear his name.

The entire property length — from the forecourt to the rear bordering Institution Hill — is 68.7m (225.4 ft), making it the longest shophouse in Singapore (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

‘Longest shophouse in Singapore’

“The shophouses at 28 and 29 Mohamed Sultan are some of the best examples of the Malacca townhouses,” says Davidson. Apart from their depth, the houses come with a forecourt, pintu pagar (decorative half-height doors at the entrance of the building), a curved staircase, an ornamental fountain in the main stairwell and a grotto-like bathtub.

List Sotheby’s Monteiro believes the property will appeal to a family office or an affluent family that wants a trophy asset. “Given its size, the building is ideal as a private gallery or a high-end private club,” he says.

Examples include Mandala Club at Bukit Pasoh, 1880 at InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay and Pall Mall 67 at the penthouse on the 26th and 27th floors of Shaw Centre on Orchard Road. Monteiro reckons the character of the shophouses and its prime District 9 address could appeal to a members’ club like SOHO House.

“Alternatively, it could operate as a gentlemen’s club for the rich, including those from out of town who want a private club with a restaurant and accommodation,” adds Davidson.

Eugene Lin, principal consultant of Fivefootway Consultants, who focuses on conserving heritage buildings, has surveyed the building at 28 and 29 Mohamed Sultan. The combined site area of the shophouses is 899.3 sqm (9,680 sq ft), with a 999-year lease from 1841. The conserved property has a total gross floor area (GFA) of 17,500 sq ft.

The entire property length — from the forecourt to the rear bordering Institution Hill — is 68.7m (225.4 ft), estimates Lin. “In terms of depth, they are the longest shophouses in Singapore,” he says.

An annexe block can be built at the rear of the conservation shophouses, which have a plot ratio of 3.8 and can be developed into a new 10-storey residential development with 24,153 sq ft of gross floor area (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Residential at the rear extension

If the new owner wants to add an annexe block at the rear, the property has a plot ratio of 3.8 and could be developed into a new 10-storey building of 24,153 sq ft GFA. The maximum GFA of the property will be 3,417.3 sqm (36,784 sq ft).

As the new extension will be zoned residential, Lin reckons the best use would be as a co-living property to complement the 17-room serviced apartments in the conserved building. The new co-living property, being residential in nature, will have to adhere to a minimum three-month lease period required by URA.

However, Lin believes the development of the rear extension would be a long-term play for the future owner. “It makes sense to develop a new rear extension if the owner buys over the neighbouring four units at 24, 25, 26, 27 Mohamed Sultan as well,” he says.

Examples of mixed-use developments with conserved commercial shophouses in front and a new rear extension with residential apartments include The Wharf Residence by CapitaLand on Tong Watt Road, 1953 at Tessensohn Road by Oxley Holdings and Atlassia at Joo Chiat Place by K16 Development.

The asking price for the building and all its contents is $160 million, and it will be available for sale by private treaty. “The property should appeal to someone with the vision to reimagine the space,” says Monteiro.

Atlasia in Joo Chiat is an example of a mixed-use development with conserved commercial shophouses in front and a new rear extension with residential apartments (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

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Conservation Shophouse