Selling for $16.96 million is a bachelor apartment on Duchess Avenue owned by a wine collector

The property is located along Duchess Avenue, off Bukit Timah Road it is a detached home with a traditional appeal. The five-bathroom, four-bedroom double-storey home is built up of 6,000 square feet and is located on a standard-shaped 5,877 sq ft leasehold lot.

Alvin Choo, PropNex Realty’s associate district director of Affluent and investment markets says the owner of the property built the house around two decades ago. Choo is the representative of the owner to the property.

Pinetree Hill architect offered by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme has been closed.

The current homeowner is a scholar as well as a wine collector and enthusiast who sought anonymity. The interiors speak to his two passions: books and wine.

“There are bottles of wine everywhere,” says Choo.

According to the owner that some of the bottles are “semi-decorative” and some are “special” like the 19th century bottle of Madeira and another bottle from 1870 along with anniversary bottles. “I will keep these as they are scarce,” he says.

The collection of wine bottles in the home is so vast that his assistants spend the entire week to cleaning the bottles.

Inviting natural light into interiors
The homeowner bought the property in 2010, following the sale of their family residence, a good Class Bungalow in Binjai Park. The homeowner and his mother relocated to the property following they moved into the Duchess Avenue property was renovated in 2011.

“We didn’t tear down the structure and then rebuild it,” says the owner. “But the majority of the changes took place on the ground level. It was dark before and even had a Koi pond that was near the staircase that was used for main entrance.”

The owner hired Vincent Lim, principal of Visual Text Architects, to plan the home. Vincent Lim removed the fish pool and put up a full-height glass window to let light in the house. The living room and dining room walls were taken down and replaced by high-quality glass sliding doors. What used to be a grassy area, there is now a 20-meter lap pool.

The renovation also included cutting out the kitchen that was wet as well as a portion of the kitchen that was dry in order to create a wine cellar that holds more than 6000 bottles. “The kitchen was designed by me,” says the owner. “I enjoy cooking and don’t require a huge space for a kitchen.” It is equipped with marble counters and the Viking Gourmet kitchen appliance. The second kitchen was set up upstairs in his personal living quarters.

The house was built for the owner as well as his mom. But, she died soon after they moved into the. Thus, it was “a Bachelor pad” as he describes it.

The owner says that the area downstairs was designed to serve as an entertainment space for the public The upstairs space was a private space. “I do not spend much time down there,” he says. The house is home to four bedrooms. There is an bathroom for a granny’s room on the first floor and three bedrooms that have en suites in the upper level.

Self-contained master suite
The proprietor has designed his master bedroom as an independent private space within the home. It has a fully-equipped kitchen and library, a space for seating as well as a master bedroom the dressing room, and an ensuite bathroom. The pitched roof enabled the architect to design an attic space for his personal study area as well as the extension to his library.

The owner is able to access the master suite via an escalator that runs parallel to the entrance of the top level of the home. It lets him access his private space without disturbing the rest of the family in the evenings. To ensure privacy the master bedroom has customized timber louvred windows along every inch of the wall.

In addition to vino bottles, the owner also has an extensive collection of documents and books. He is also a shopper of furniture from the mid-century period and has even kept a few items passed down by his grandparents and parents. He even has some pieces of grills and bricks from the former family house located in Binjai Park.

The owner has decided to sell the house because he just got married and the couple wants to begin afresh with an entirely new residence.

In line with the most the most recent market transactions’
Despite the fact that the house was updated 13 years ago and has been maintained throughout the years, according to PropNex’s Choo. “Most of viewers are families, and they’re always amazed to see that the house is practical and accommodating to the elderly.”

The structure of the home is strong enough to allow a new homeowner to build an additional top level or even put up a lift, according to Choo.

The asking price is $16.96 million or $2,886 per square foot with a land size of 5,877 square feet. “It’s an average parcel with a frontage of 16m,” says Choo. “Such land plots ranging from up to 6000 sq ft or more are becoming scarcer, especially in District 10’s prime areas.”

The most recent transaction on Duchess Avenue was in December this year and a detached home located on a leasehold plot of 5,401 square feet was sold in exchange for $14.05 million ($2,601 per sq ft) Based on caveats that were lodged. As per URA Realis, the house was built in the year 2000.

Nearby to Coronation Road, an unattached house that has a 5,055 square feet, 999-year leasehold was purchased at $17.08 million ($3,379 per square foot) at the end of February. The property located on Coronation Road is a newly constructed three-level detached home and, as such, is more in terms of price per square foot Choo says. Choo.

“The cost of acquiring the property located at Duchess Avenue is in line with recent market transactions,” he adds. “A home that is this beautiful, with antique charm and a rich family history, is not easily duplicated.”