A Peranakan gem had previously stood at 26 Mangis Road for almost a century.

One of its last kinds in Singapore, the unique house was built in 1932; the year clearly inscribed on its decorative roof gable. Even though it was a single-storey building, the house appeared tall due to its elevation from the ground level. A small stairway was built at its main door. Below its windows were rows of distinctively beautiful Peranakan motif tiles.

The house was reportedly owned by a Chew family who had stayed there for at least three generations.

Mangis Road was originally called Lorong 205 East Coast Road. The Singapore Municipal Commissioners agreed in a 1934 meeting to rename the roads at the Joo Chiat vicinity.

Other than Mangis Road, the roads with new names were Crane Road, Pennefather Road, Fowlie Road, Marshall Road, Rambutan Road, Chiku Road, Rambai Road and Pulasan Road.

It was reported in the newspapers that in June 1963, a mobile x-ray unit was set up at the junction of Joo Chiat Place and Mangis Road by the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association. There were concerns of a potential tuberculosis cluster forming at the area.

Mangis Road has seen significant progress over the decades. New private residences such as Mangis Park, Eastway and Tian Court sprung up in the eighties, replacing the old pre- and post-war houses and shophouses.

In 1999, Mangis Park, a freehold private condominium, completed in 1983, was put for a $15.5 million collective sale by its owners. It was subsequently demolished and replaced in 2006 by a new private development called The Geranium.

As for Mangis Road’s unique Peranakan house, it withstood the test of time for more than 90 years, surviving the Japanese Occupation, Singapore’s merger with Malaysia and the nation’s independence. But like many other old buildings, it eventually could not outlast the rapid pace of development.

The house was sold and demolished in 2024.

Published: 29 May 2026