I was always under the impression that the landed houses near Kheam Hock Road were all large properties i.e. detached or semi-detached units.
Hence, I was intrigued to see some terrace units when driving through the other day, and decided it would be interesting to feature them in this Singapore landed estate walkabout series.
(In my opinion, living in a terrace house in the middle of larger houses, as opposed to being in an only-terrace house estate, is great because you have more space from your neighbours and, usually, fewer parking issues.)
PHOTO: Stackedhomes
The Kheam Hock landed enclave is huge, so we are only covering part of it today, namely the area around Trevose Place.
The bit with terrace houses is quite small, which only encompasses one short street (Trevose Place), with around 12 properties. It's so small, it's pretty much just the red dot shown in the above map!
PHOTO: StackedhomesThe terrace houses line both sides of this street — I am standing at the top, and it's so short, you can see right to the end. Although the street looks empty, there is not much street parking (other than where you see the two houses at the bottom of the slope) because the empty spaces are either too short to park a car or situated such that you would be blocking a house if you parked there. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
I'm not sure if you can see from the photo, but the street is inclined, with the terrace houses lower-lying than their bigger neighbours. However, the saving grace is the large expense of greenery right next to the houses, so some units have unblocked views.
I think this red car has the only possible street parking space here. PHOTO: StackedhomesThis is the main street perpendicular to Trevose Place. As you can see, there is a short stretch with dotted white lines where your visitors can park but, generally, it's an unbroken white line along this stretch. (So, again, not much street parking space.) PHOTO: StackedhomesTrevose Place is on our right and, ahead, is Kheam Hock Road. If you turn right ahead, you will walk to the PIE. PHOTO: StackedhomesWhat your immediate neighbours would look like if you lived at Trevose Place. As shown, the car park is relatively large. PHOTO: StackedhomesI'm standing on Trevose Crescent, the road that leads onto Trevose Place. Look at the house to the right and you'll have an indication of exactly how sloping Trevose Place is. (The house is quite a bit lower than the street on which I'm standing.) PHOTO: StackedhomesThis corner terrace is the largest house on Trevose Place. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe houses at the end do shrink slightly in width. (However, the last one on the left is quite a long plot.) PHOTO: Stackedhomes This is the house across the street. As you can observe, it only has trees for neighbours on one side. PHOTO: StackedhomesI'd love to wake up to a view like this every morning! PHOTO: StackedhomesHaving said that, it may not be for everyone. As some Singaporeans are superstitious, I must point out that the greenery is part of a cemetery. (If you refer to the Master Plan, there is a narrow strip zoned residential separating the cemetery from the houses.) PHOTO: StackedhomesZoom in for the oldies like me with bad eyesight. I heeded the sign and didn't wander in, and from the street, couldn't see any of the graves. I think that most of the graves are located on the other side of the cemetery, across the PIE. PHOTO: StackedhomesWhat you see to the left. PHOTO: StackedhomesAnd to the right. PHOTO: StackedhomesStanding at the bottom of the street and looking up. Houses on the left. PHOTO: StackedhomesOn the right. PHOTO: StackedhomesMore houses on the right. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe bigger houses are at the top of the main street, to the right. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
Another plus point about the landed estate is its proximity to Kheam Hock Park, which has outdoor facilities for adults (not kids) so let's head that way for a look.
Immediately across Kheam Hock Road, this is what we see. (More semi-Ds.) PHOTO: StackedhomesTo the left. As shown, the traffic flow here is on the heavier side for a residential estate. If you continue down that way you'll reach Bukit Timah Road and Dunearn Road. PHOTO: StackedhomesWe're heading right to the Park. The road has a wide pavement but, it meanders from right to left. (i.e. sometimes the pavement is on the right, then it ends, and you have to cross to the left if you want to continue walking on the pavement.) You'll have to pay a bit of attention when crossing the road because the bends partially block visibility. In addition, the cars can go quite quickly, especially when coming off the PIE. PHOTO: StackedhomesI believe this development recently en-bloc-ed and is being redeveloped. PHOTO: StackedhomesThis bit was marked as a park on Google Maps, but not on the Master Plan. (And I couldn't find a park either.) PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesPassed this old condominium — only 19 units on over 30,000 sq ft of land. PHOTO: StackedhomesHouses getting progressively larger. PHOTO: StackedhomesSome are elevated and quite majestic looking. PHOTO: StackedhomesThe ones on the right appear to have unblocked greenery behind them too. The green you see is the part between the houses, and the map confirms the unblocked greenery view. (i.e. a view of the cemetery.) PHOTO: StackedhomesThis might be a better illustration. PHOTO: StackedhomesOr this! PHOTO: StackedhomesThe PIE. (You will hear it.) PHOTO: StackedhomesPHOTO: StackedhomesAnd here is the park! PHOTO: StackedhomesThere are, apparently, even free weekly exercise sessions, including Zumba lessons! However, the downside is that the park is right under the PIE so it's quite noisy. (You don't hear the noise from Trevose Place, but the houses closer to the PIE do get affected by some noise pollution.) There's also the pollution from the vehicles, so I wonder how enjoyable exercising here would be. PHOTO: StackedhomesThis is its proximity to the road. PHOTO: Stackedhomes This is one of the only two zoned parks in this landed enclave. (On Google Maps, there is a green bit labelled "Kheam Hock Nature Way" but I couldn't find it when wandering around the estate. Neither is it marked on the Masterplan.) Unfortunately, there are only a few exercise stations. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
The second park, University Road Park (which is shown in my University Road walkabout), is a distance away so families who are looking for an estate with a playground for their kids may not find this area suitable for them. (Having said that, since most of the houses here have large plots of land, the kids might actually prefer playing in their own gardens to a public playground.)
Here's the entire view of the park from the other side. It does look quite idyllic! PHOTO: StackedhomesThese are the houses on the other side of the park. (The road leads upwards.) PHOTO: Stackedhomes Close-up of the (new) houses. PHOTO: Stackedhomes Walk down this road to the left, and you'll reach the University Park houses we viewed a while back, then Dunearn Road/Bukit Timah Road. PHOTO: StackedhomesBack at the park: there's also this coast-to-coast trail sign. Apparently, you can walk to MacRitchie from here. However, we're going to take the opposite stretch and see where it heads. PHOTO: StackedhomesAh, it's the Adam Park connector. PHOTO: StackedhomesWhich takes you to Botanic Gardens! (Not a very peaceful walk though, due to the traffic.) PHOTO: StackedhomesAt least the walk looks good. PHOTO: Stackedhomes
If we continue down this way, we'll eventually reach Hollandse Club. It's a 16-minute walk away. In terms of amenities, Trevose Place is also a 15-minute walk to Raffles Town Club (which isn't going to be around for much longer).
However, in terms of really getting to shops and restaurants, you'll be happier if you have a car. (Trevose Place is relatively deep in/far from the bus stop and MRT. The bright side is you're only a short drive from Orchard.) For parents, Trevose Place is also a short drive from several famous schools such as Hwa Chong, MGS, and SCGS. (This also means that the main roads can get quite jammed during peak hours.)
