Touring A Rare Convenient Freehold Landed Estate Close To Marine Parade MRT (From $5m)

10 min read

Today, we’re headed to Jago Close and Chapel Road, 2 parallel streets in the East of Singapore. These 2 streets are just off East Coast Road and between Marine Parade MRT station, the Marine Parade HDB estate, and many famous eateries such as Chin Mee Chin Confectionery, Merci Marcel, and more.  

 Here’s the map to help you get a better overview of the area involved. 

Let’s start by turning off East Coast Road into Jago Close. As you can see, there’s a restaurant, Mel’s Place, right at the entrance. 

Opposite Mel’s Place is a kopitiam but it was in a state of disarray when I visited – I am not sure if it’s being built or taken down. (I couldn’t find any reviews/news about it on Google Maps.)

As you can see, the kopitiam is very close to the houses on Jago Close – it’s really within a stone’s throw. 

There is a small alley to separate the kopitiam and the houses but if the visitors to the kopitiam are boisterous, you might be able to hear it from the house.

The alleyway looks like it might take you over to Chapel Road (the building with the cross is the church located at the top of Chapel Road. By the way, don’t confuse Chapel Road with Chapel Close, which is located right across East Coast Road.)

Walking down Jago Close – as shown, there are double yellow lines here so you can only park in the designated spots. I managed to find a designated car park space but I visited before lunch. It might not be so easy to get a space during lunch or dinner, when people are visiting the nearby eateries. 

Empty parking space on my left.

As shown, there is potential to rebuild higher if you find a single-storey unit here. (However, there are not many single-storey units left here.)

There are several single-storey houses on the left (i.e. on Kuo Chuan Avenue) but you cannot enter the houses (whether by walking or driving in) from here. 

Jago Close is not a long road – once you reach the top, you start seeing the HDB blocks. (An HDB estate nearby usually means that the landed estate is not far from amenities.) 

A closer look at the houses – you could be anywhere in Singapore, just looking at these houses. (Personally, I prefer the units over at Chapel Close – we’ll be reaching them soon.)

This is what you see when you look out from the house – see what I mean about how you can’t enter the houses on the left (i.e. on Kuo Chuan Avenue) from here? 

Take a look at the house on the right for an idea of exactly how much higher you can build here.  

Note that this is a cul-de-sac so cars cannot drive through to Marine Parade Road or Chapel Road. (Pedestrians can walk over though.)

Chapel Road is to the right but before we head there let’s see where this sign “Pedestrians this way” leads. (The single-storey building behind the yellow sign is the entrance to Marine Parade MRT.)

Turning left.

Ah, there’s a playground here! (Right outside the MRT.) 

Zooming in for a closer look – oh it’s an outdoor gym called Marine Parade Road Park, and not a playground.

Behind the outdoor gym are the houses on the right of Jago Close (the single-storey ones we couldn’t find the entrance to before.) We’ll head over for a peek but before that, let’s take a look at the surroundings here. 

I turn around and there’s the entrance to the MRT. 

Around the outdoor gym is quite an open green area. 

Here’s what Jago Close looks like from here. 

If we walk a few steps to the main road (Marine Parade Road) there’s a bus stop. (So taking public transport if you live here is very convenient – you can choose between the MRT and bus.)

As you can see, Marine Parade Road is a large road – larger than East Coast Road I believe. However, it was less busy when I visited.

Many buses stop here, but the review on Google wasn’t ideal at the time of writing this article (2.8 out of 5) – apparently, you can’t see the buses if you don’t stand up.

Oh, given how wide this road is, you might be wondering about noise pollution. I didn’t hear any road traffic when at Jago Close/Chapel Road. However, as mentioned, Marine Parade Road wasn’t super busy when I visited. You might want to check it out at peak hour to be on the safe side.

If we turn left, we can walk over to Chapel Close – there’s a nice wide path here, but it seems to be shared with cyclists.

Anyway, we still have to check out the single-storey houses (on Kuo Chuan Avenue) bordering Jago Close before heading over to Chapel Road, so let’s walk there now. 

Passed a nice stone bench on the way – there’s no cover though, so I’m not sure how comfortable it is to sit here.

Oh, we still can’t enter to see the single-storey houses! This is the first time I’ve seen non-strata landed houses which block off access to their street. (Note I don’t know for sure that this is non-strata but it doesn’t look like it.)

I do a quick Google search but there’s not much information about this street. I do manage to find it on EdgeProp though: apparently, no houses have been sold here but there are lots of rentals. It could be that all the houses are owned by 1 person/company, hence making it easier to block off access as we see above. 

In case you’re wondering, here’s how much it costs to rent a semi-D here.

Anyway since we can’t enter Kuo Chuan Avenue, let’s head over to Chapel Road now.

Heading to Chapel Road.

There’s a large sort of roundabout here so it’s much easier to drive in/out as compared to Jago Close.

A closer look at the heritage houses shows that they’re situated a bit lower than street level. (As you probably know, we’ve had lots of flash floods in the last few months so I always pay attention to whether a house is on high/low-lying land.) I did a quick Google and the only news about flooding on Marine Parade seems to be related to a damaged water pipe (i.e. (hopefully) one-off.)

Walking down Jago Close – we always hear about how heritage houses are bigger than they look due to how long the houses can be. The above is a great example.

On the right, the houses are back to modern buildings, quite similar to what we saw on Jago Close.

Some construction on the street. 

Now, the houses on the left are much more charming!

As shown, almost all the units on the left are still in original condition whilst the right is a mixed bag. (There are both terrace and detached units here.) 

Now I love heritage houses so bear with me whilst I bombard you with photos of the units here. 

For some reason, most of my good friends are Peranakans so I’ve heard quite a bit about what living in a heritage shophouse is like. A few things they have mentioned are maintenance issues, pests, and lack of parking space. As you can see above, there’s space for your car here, so it is a big plus.

Much as I love the heritage units, I have to confess that this street feels much more crowded than Jago Close. I’m guessing it’s because there are entrances to houses on both sides of the street here (versus only on one side at Jago Close.)

In addition, as we head towards the junction of East Coast Road and Chapel Road, we reach a church. (Living near a church can mean large crowds visiting during service hours.)

As you can see, the houses are right next to the church, so there’s not much breathing space in between. I didn’t visit on a Sunday but I wonder if you can hear the service from the houses.

There’s also a boutique condo near the church. Since there’s only one exit and entrance for vehicles, it may get a bit busy during peak hours. Having said that, with the MRT, bus stop and so many amenities close by, you don’t really need a car.

It’s a pretty large church.

Walking to the main road.

Some units here have very long driveways!

East Coast Road above – the road is quite busy so it can be a bit of a pain driving down it.

Some of the shops across the street.

Lovely!

The East is well-known for its Peranakan shops and restaurants.

And its good food.

Wow, there’s even a Baltic supermarket!

And a petrol station across the street.

Tuition centre.

You really don’t lack anything here! Personally, I think it would be a great place to live if one took public transport everywhere. If one drives, it might be a bit less convenient though. (You’d have to be prepared for the traffic on East Coast Road since that’s the only way in/out of the estate.)

At the time of writing, there were no units for sale on either street. For some reason, the sales records of Jago Close couldn’t load so we only have the Chapel Road ones for reference. As you may have noticed, sales here are few and far between.

According to YourSingaporeMap.com, there are several primary schools close by: CHIJ Katong, Tao Nan, and Tanjong Katong Primary are all within 1 km of 10 Jago Close and 3 Chapel Road. (If there’s a specific unit that has caught your eye, do check again as another house on the same street can sometimes fall outside the coveted 1 km mark.)

Now that we’ve reached the end of the tour, how did you find the area? Let me know in the comments!