I was browsing the map for a landed enclave to feature in this series when I came across Mayflower estate and noticed that it was pretty much right next to an MRT and hawker centre. As many landed estates are quite inconvenient, in terms of access to public transport and amenities, I thought that it would be interesting to head down for a tour!
Driving to Mayflower, I was pleasantly surprised by how low-density the area felt, as it’s located in the middle of Ang Mo Kio. The roads weren’t teeming with people and it was much less stressful driving through the area. (This could be because the HDB blocks there are all low or mid-rise.)
Turning into Mayflower Avenue ahead.
The entrance to the estate is by way of Mayflower Avenue, which is situated between Kebun Baru CC/Mayflower MRT and Mayflower Market and Food Centre, so you can see what convenient access the estate has to amenities.
There’s a Domino’s, Burger King, and a 24-hour Gymboxx at the CC.Entrance to the estate with the MRT and market behind the road. See what I mean about spaciousness? (Look at how broad the road and pavement are.)Turning around to take a photo of the junction so you can better envisage how wide the roads are and how low-density the area feels. For once, I didn’t feel like a sardine in a tin! Turning into the estate.Texas Chicken across the road and a covered walkway.There’s a large court in the CC and there was an early morning class going on. A good resource for seniors living in the area!The downside of having so many food establishments – pests. There were HUGE birds all around this dumpster (crows, I think?) and blocking the pavement. However, the houses are still a few hundred metres away and I didn’t see other pests besides the birds.Walked a few more steps and reached the houses. See how empty and spacious the estate looks?Turned to the right to take a photo of Mayflower Rise and the terrace houses there. This row faces the CC (but I couldn’t hear any noise from it on a Saturday morning.) There is a daycare centre here for those with young children (Sunflower Kinderhub @ AMK.)
Continue walking down Mayflower Rise and you’ll reach Kebun Baru Heights & Ang Mo Kio Block 103-106 where you can find a few coffee shops.
See how not crowded this HDB estate is??Pretty patriotic estate.Besides the coffee shops, you can also find a Medical Centre and Vet in this estate.Some of the eateries in the area.We decided to stop here for breakfast. (If you like herbal style bak kut teh, Hong Ji serves it. But I decided to try the 5058 wanton mee instead. Tasted very decent – the flavour brought me back to my childhood – and also good portion size for $4. (The fishball noodles are only $3.50!) Best of all, the Aunties manning the stall are really nice and friendly.
Next to the coffee shop is another clinic and vet.
From the end of the row of eateries (including Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice, which apparently has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, according to the sign) is the start of a long covered walkway. To the left of this photo/the walkway is one of several entrances to Mayflower MRT station.MRT entrance to the left.Court to the right. Even though it was in use, the area was not noisy at all.
OK now that we’ve seen the neighbouring HDB estate, as well as explored what it has to offer, let’s get back to our tour of Mayflower!
Note: I don’t always show photos of the amenities at the HDB estates near landed enclaves because most of them are near but not quite near enough to walk to, once Singapore’s weather is factored in. You can tell by how I’ve taken you through an entire tour of the Kebun Baru HDB estate just how close the amenities here are to the landed houses!
Back to where Mayflower Rise meets Mayflower Avenue. Note that it’s a single white line here, so no street parking is allowed but once further into the estate, it’s a dotted white line with plenty of spaces to park.I decide to take a left down Mayflower Drive, which leads to Mayflower Place. The road here is downward sloping.Taking a last look down Mayflower Avenue before walking down Mayflower Place.Another photo for you to enjoy how open this estate feels.Walking down the slope.A closer look at some of the houses here. As you can see, many are still in original condition and have room to build upwards as most of the area is zoned for 3-storey mixed-landed housing.
An Edgeprop article about an auction of a property in this estate said that “landed homes in District 20 are rarely up for sale.” However, when I checked the sales records, there were 4 sales in 2022 and 5 in 2021, which doesn’t seem that rare to me. As mentioned in the title, one of the houses here actually sold for $2.8m+ in 2022 which was an eye-opener for me, as it’s difficult to find freehold landed houses for $3 million these days, let alone $2m! (Do note that the next sale right after it was also a terrace house of similar size, but that went for $4.6m!)
However, the disparity in prices could potentially be due to different house conditions. As mentioned, the majority of homes here have yet to be modernised, however, there are a few that have been rebuilt and are extremely well-designed!
Example of a gorgeous newly built home. (So new I could still see construction workers in the property.)
I LOVE the architecture, although I do wonder how private it is given so much glass. (I think it works because of how rambling this area is – the house pretty much faces a large open field so they don’t have to worry about nosy neighbours. The only way you would really see inside is if you were not embarrassed to stand on the road outside and peer in, as I was doing!)
Anyway, we’ve digressed a bit so let me get back to my tour. Here’s where Mayflower Drive meets Mayflower Place and the buildings you see behind are actually Mayflower Market. There’s a Giant Supermarket right behind these houses so it’s super convenient to get groceries!
Note that this is also next to Kebun Baru Birdsinging Club. I didn’t hear any birds but, personally, before buying a house on this street, I would visit on a day when the birds are singing to check the noise levels!
Look down Mayflower Place. This road is mainly large semi-Ds (amongst the largest in this landed estate, I believe.)Photo for you to enjoy how rambling the area is. I personally think that residents of this estate have a very high quality of life!Looking back at where we came from – as you can see the HDB blocks are so low, they don’t appear much taller than the houses from here.As mentioned, massive semi-Ds.Example of how much space you have to build upwards.Although this feels like a better example!Another thing I appreciate about this estate is how well-manicured the pavements and common areas are.Also, the area was planned pretty well. It consists of quite a few short parallel streets, and most have paths to cut through to each other (so you don’t have to walk a big round – very handy when the sun is out in full force!)The impression I had of the area was that it was an underrated estate, but with interest starting to pick up in recent months (as evidenced by the fact that there were a few construction projects in progress- possibly new buyers who wanted to modernise.) (Also note how much taller the new build is compared to its neighbour on the right – so short you can barely see it.)I also appreciate how unblocked the area is! (No high-rise buildings behind.)And, as shown above, the area will enjoy having a huge green area, zoned as a park, next to it for quite some time. (In the absence of further changes to the Masterplan.)Turning down another street in the Mayflower enclave.Pretty spacious terrace houses here. (Quite a good width.)Turned again into Mayflower Crescent and we find more semi-Ds.These are much less spacious than the ones we saw at Mayflower Place (and, as such, probably more affordable too?)Alas with smaller houses comes more people parking on the road, so slightly more congestion.But these houses have the benefit of being right next to the playground (and a huge one too.)Look at how open the space is!Nothing terribly exciting here in terms of playground rides, but having so much space is always a huge privilege in a country like Singapore.There’s even a sizeable area devoted to an outdoor gym, presumably for adults.Look at how much green space there is around the playground (to the left of the photo, houses to the right.)Although the same can’t be said of the road – this is the only part of the Mayflower enclave in which I’ve seen people “chope” parking spaces.Still at the playground.Please take a moment to appreciate just how much space is in between the houses here!There’s so much space, it feels like a private gazebo and garden. (This is what the lovely roundhouse I showed earlier in the article looks out onto, and why I said they don’t have to worry about nosy neighbours!)More broad and empty roads.This part of the estate borders another HDB (which is situated on lower-lying ground.)Generous setbacks between the houses and the HDB.Looking down one of the streets on the left, which ends with another HDB estate. Unfortunately, this time, the HDB is located on higher ground so the houses are on lower-lying land.
Let’s walk down the street and see.
Interesting house we passed on the way – it’s a terrace and has THREE cars parked inside!See what I mean about the HDB being on higher ground? There’s also a basketball court on the left which I guess residents of the landed estate can also use.Look to the left.And to the right.Walking down Mayflower Avenue now.You eventually reach Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.Very stylish public spaces in this HDB estate!Gated community, Mayflower Residences (townhouses) to the left, right in front of the main road.Here, there’s a covered walkway. (Looking to the left.)On the right, it brings you to the bus stop and to Ang Mo Kio Primary (the building across the road.)Buses that stop here: 76, 132, 165, 166, 169, 265, 268, 269 and 652.
Follow the road and we’ll reach Kebun Baru Heights, where we began our walkabout! So how did you find Mayflower? I’d not heard much about this estate prior to my visit and was very pleasantly surprised by how liveable, well-situated and open it was. I found myself semi-envying the lucky residents who lived there!
However, a huge hiccup appeared on my way back: the traffic. Now this was a weekday morning (and not rush hour) but, even then, the traffic was HORRENDOUS. Because of the amount of construction being done (for the North-South Corridor), cars would suddenly stop (after turning) to avoid the construction in the middle of the road which, of course, makes driving a bit more stressful.
On top of that, I don’t know what was happening (besides the construction) but around Balestier, the heavy traffic suddenly came to a stop and was stuck for so long, I thought I was in Bangkok! After about 30 minutes, I decided to U-turn to get out of the jam, so I’m not sure how much longer the other cars were stuck there.
Note: A friend who lives around the Thomson area advises to take Lornie Road instead of Marymount/Thomson/Balestier to avoid the worst of the construction. She, too, took the same road today and says the traffic was unusually bad so it may have been a one-off.
As such, in my opinion, Mayflower is a really lovely and spacious area to live in, but I hope you don’t plan on driving to town often for the next few years (or are very patient.) (The North-South Corridor is set to be completed in 2027.)
Let me know in the comments if there are other areas you want me to feature!
TJ
12 min read
I decide to take a left down Mayflower Drive, which leads to Mayflower Place. The road here is downward sloping.
