Located along Penang Road are a pair of beautiful double-storey Victorian semi-detached houses, known today as part of Winsland House II. Built in the 1910s, the whitish building was designed in typical “Late Bungalow House Style“, which is made up of two residential units and consists of similar but symmetrical facades, giving it a pleasant and balanced appearance.
More than 150 years ago, this area was a vast 173-acre nutmeg estate owned by Dr Thomas Oxley (1805–1886), who was posted to Penang, Malacca and Singapore between 1825 and 1841. He later became the Surgeon of the Straits Settlements. Thomas Oxley’s estate, just before his return to England in 1857, was put up for sale in lots. His legacy lives on till this day with Oxley Road named after him.
For a greater part of history, the Penang Road bungalows were used as private residences. In the eighties and nineties, they were subsequently leased to the Singapore Tong San Association (founded in 1955) and Orchard School of Arts and Commerce (established in 1988).
The properties and land were eventually sold for redevelopment purposes. A tall commercial building was to be built at the site, but fortunately the developer agreed to conserve the houses as this would free up the additional floor area available from the bungalows and also preserve a part of Singapore’s heritage.
After the designers firmed up the incorporation of the bungalows into the clean modern design of Winsland House II, restoration works kicked off from October 1996 to October 1997. Costing about $1.4 million in the restoration, many original features, such as the tall verandahs, roofs and facades, were carefully retained and refurbished.
Additional new features such as a new flight of steps with planter boxes were added at the front porch, as well as a curvilinear ramped path for handicapped access. The project team’s detailed restoration efforts managed to win them the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Architectural Heritage Award in 2002, and the beautiful buildings are part of the Orchard Road heritage trail today.
Published: 13 April 2020
Remember Singapore 
Reference materials: https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Get-Involved/Conserve-Built-Heritage/Architectural-Heritage-Season/-/media/657E93F941F3452A9545640132DBC23E.ashx
Now, alot of old buildings pulled down. Can’t find the actual scenery of the 50s. For examples, old British buildings beside Singapore River gone. Cathay Building also vanished. What a pity!
Being surrounded by those glass and metal towers, this bungalow is honestly as good as being demolished. So unfortunate that many historic buildings in Singapore are dwarfed by the new.