We’d previously visited Loyang Villas, a 99-year landed estate located just across the road from the Jalan Mariam and Lengkok Mariam landed enclave.
Here’s the Map so you can see how close the two estates are to each other. When I wrote about Loyang Villas, I said that Jalan Mariam felt much more spacious due to the bigger houses in the estate. And whilst it is true that you can find bigger houses here (such as semi-Ds and detached units) there are also terrace houses so for those who don’t believe in leasehold-landed properties but can’t afford a bigger property.
In fact, when I was looking at the properties for sale in the area, I was surprised to see that a 99-year corner terrace in Loyang Villas was only $100,000 less than a semi-D in Mariam estate! Yes the 99-year property has more land, but according to the ads, the internal area (which buyers tend to be more concerned about) are almost the same size.
However, the two landed enclaves feel very different. Loyang Villas had charming houses, but very narrow and crowded roads. Lengkok Mariam, on the other hand, is much more spacious and tranquil. Walking around the houses, I felt like I wasn’t in Singapore, to be honest! Anyway, photographs are worth a 1000 words, so let’s have a look around so you can see for yourself.
For those who didn’t read the Loyang piece (or have forgotten what the estate looks like), here’s a refresher for you. The road looks much more spacious in the photo than it really is. However, the car parked on the pavement and the dustbins out to reserve parking space are a good indication that it can be hard to find parking space in the Loyang estate.In comparison, look at the Lengkok Mariam road: nary a car in sight.Walk to the end of the road, and you’ll find this pedestrian footpath. If you refer to the photo above, you can see that although the street is a dead end, it has quite a bit of room to allow cars to U-turn.
Let’s follow the path and see where it leads.
Here are some of the things we pass along the way.When we reach the end of the footpath, we find ourselves back on the main road. (Upper Changi Road North.) If you follow the road, it’ll lead you to Changi Chapel and Museum, then Toh estate.This is what you see across the road – I believe it’s Tanah Merah Prison Link Centre.Let’s follow the path to the right instead.We see a second row of terrace houses.
As you can see above, all the terrace units around Jalan Mariam are concentrated here, near Upper Changi Road North, whilst the rest of the houses are larger units. If you head to Mariam Way, Loyang Rise and Jalan Sinar Bulan, you’ll find more terrace units. However, what makes the terrace houses around Jalan Mariam more special is that it’s a smaller proportion of terrace units to semi-Ds and detached houses, whilst the other terrace house clusters here are entire streets filled with terrace units. Generally, when a terrace house is in the same estate as a semi-D or detached unit, the roads are more spacious (i.e. less parking problems) compared to streets where it is 100% terrace units.
This second row of terrace units is a very small street, with only about 6 houses (and some odd-sized plots.)Not much to see there, so let’s continue along our way. Across the road is a bus-stop, and there’s another one further ahead, right by the condo, Parc Komo, where you’ll find buses 2, 2B, 4, and 5.That’s Parc Komo and the bus stop in front. Behind it, there’s an ESSO, with a convenience shop. (It’s a mini NTUC.)
Let’s take the road to the right so we can see the second row of terrace houses.
Walking into the landed estate, Parc Komo on the left. Parc Komo is actually a boon to the residents of the landed enclave. Not only is it a low-rise condo (so not towering over the landed houses and blocking light/air), it comes with some shops and restaurants, such as Anytime Fitness, Coffee Beans, PlayFACTO School, Rain Tree Montessori, M@K@N, and Ding Heng.Finally reached the terrace houses. (The unit closest to Upper Changi Road North is a utility station, so there’s a bit of a set-back between the houses and the main road.)What the terrace houses look like.Cars are not allowed to park here, which keeps the roads nice and clear, but there is space to park on the road further ahead and to the right.See what I mean about the estate feeling spacious? How often do you see so much space in landed estates that are not GCB estates?(It’s not empty land, by the way, just houses that are not built to the max (i.e. as wide and as high as possible) which gives the estate its more open feel.There are quite a few single storey units in this area.The estate slopes up when you walk in from Upper Changi Road North, but is lower lying than the Loyang Rise 99-year leasehold estate next door.If you turn to the right, that’s where we took the footpath to the main road earlier.As shown, there are no more terrace houses, and it’s all bigger units now. Let’s continue down Jalan Mariam and explore Lengkok Mariam later.There’s a PUB facility to the left.Some of the houses we pass along the way.There were a few construction projects too.Just look at the massive property being built on the right! (There’s another one on the left too, that you can’t see in this photo.)Walk down a bit further and we reach the bit where street parking is allowed. As you can see the road isn’t too crowded, and there’s more than enough space to drive through easily. (Helps that it’s a nice straight road.)There’s so much space between the properties, this reminds me of an English cottage (in Singapore.)Remember what I said earlier about having fewer parking issues in an estate with a mix of property types (terrace, semi-D and detached) vs terrace only? Well, that’s because you have bigger car porches in the bigger houses, as shown above. More than enough space to park 2-3 cars!As we walk further down, on our left is Jalan Batalong East, a long cul-de-sac that slopes downwards and ends in a drain. (All larger properties on this street.)We continue down Jalan Mariam. Ahead, if you squint, you can see the backs of the 99-year, Peranakan-lookalike terrace houses.Here’s a more close-up photo.The two estates are separated by Old Tampines Road where you find more bus stops, and bus 29 stopping here. Looking to the right, you see some open land (zoned residential, 1.6 plot ratio), and Kuala Loyang (Old Tampines Road) Forest. There’s also a sign indicating that Bukit Loyang Mariam estate is to your right. (That’s the estate we just walked out of FYI.)You may have noticed that we’ve not seen a playground in the estate. If you take the path to the left, you’ll reach a large playground and dog run at Mariam Way.We actually toured this part during the Loyang Rise walkabout so, if you’re interested, you can refer to the photos in that article. For now, let’s head back into the estate and have a look at Lengkok Mariam, which we didn’t have the chance to explore earlier.Walking back in: it’s the same road, but it looks different from the opposite direction.We take a left into Lengkok Mariam. Here the houses are more built-up and the street is less spacious in feel as compared to Jalan Mariam. It’s not very different from any landed estate in, say, Bukit Timah.Oh, except for the landscaping on the pavements that is! One thing that I’ve consistently noticed when touring landed estates in the East is how much the residents love gardening and greenery. Many of the landed enclaves in this part of Singapore, such as Eastwood, are lovingly tended, and a joy to wander through.We see some modern and massive houses here.The beautiful landscaping continues.You may have noticed that street parking is allowed here (broken white line on the street) and we do see some cars parked on the road.However, it’s generally pretty clear.Something to highlight is that this road slopes from left to right. Notice the staircase in the photo above? That’s because the houses on the right are quite a bit elevated above the main road.See what I mean? That’s quite a steep slope for elderly people to climb up, and some houses have thoughtfully built a flight of stairs (see below.)This brings us to where we started our tour. Before we go, here’s a photo to show you how much higher you can build if you purchase one of the older houses in the estate.Of course, the downside is that Changi is quite far away from the rest of Singapore. (Luckily, with Changi Jewel, there’s now a shopping centre about a 10 minute drive away.)
However, you will need a car to get the most out of living here. Although there’s Loyang MRT coming up, that’s still a good 25 minutes walk away, according to Google maps. Families with children looking for estates within 1 km of famous Primary Schools may also find this estate unsuitable.
However, if you’re looking for a serene and open estate away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore, Jalan Mariam is something that you may enjoy. Let me know what you think of the estate in the comments!
TJ’s interest in property was sparked after returning from the UK- where balconies are not counted in one’s square footage!- and finding that the Singapore property had totally changed in the 7 years she was away. When not reading and watching articles & videos about property, she is busy cooking and baking for friends, family & her blog Greedygirlgourmet
TJ
9 min read
Since it’s so near to the airport, is it noisy from the airplanes departing or landing from Changi?