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
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Last week, we looked at semi-Ds and detached houses in D20 that were within walking distance of CHIJ St. Nicholas. This week, we’ll be looking at their equivalent in D10: semi-Ds and detached houses in Moonbeam estate within walking distance of the famous Henry Park Primary School (8 minutes on foot) and Jalan Jelita (11 minutes, and you’ll find Cold Storage and a few other shops there.) There’s also Ulu Pandan Park Connector 16 minutes away, Dover MRT 20 minutes away, and Ghim Moh Food Market 21 minutes away (where you can get your groceries and hawker food), so the estate is quite well-connected.
Note: the estate is quite interesting because some of the houses are freehold, some 999-year leasehold, and others 99-year leasehold.
A map of the area so you can get a better idea of the estate’s location.And here’s the Master Plan of the area – one thing to note is that there are currently 2 huge plots of empty land opposite Moonbeam Estate, which is one of the reasons the area feels relatively quiet and tranquil. Things might feel very different if/when they are developed. I also have to point out that there has been en-bloc talk around several of the neighbouring condos for some time, such as Pandan Valley and Pine Grove, so if any of them go through, you might be living next to a massive construction project for some time.
One thing you may not realise from looking at the map is that this estate is located in a valley. Hence, even though it’s part of a much bigger landed enclave (Mount Sinai) the houses feel very private. (However, some people say that houses located in a valley are much more humid. Since I’ve never stayed in one, I can’t say for sure, and there will be differences from area to area. But that was the feedback I got when interviewing people about living in Teacher’s Estate, another estate located in a valley.)
Standing on the main road, you’re about level with the second floor of the houses in Moonbeam estate.Looking across the road those are the empty plots of land I mentioned.As you can see, the area feels lush and green.Looking to the left, there’s a covered walkway to the bus stop.5 buses stop here.To the right, the covered walkway brings you to an overhead bridge. (If you walk further down, you’ll reach Henry Park Primary and then Jalan Jelita Shopping Centre.) We don’t see many cars at the moment, but the road can get quite jammed during peak hours.Behind me is a staircase that leads back into the estate, making it convenient for the residents to get to the bus stop.
However, we won’t head this way, instead let’s turn to the right, and walk to the main entrance to the estate.
After passing the bus stop, we get to the Moonbeam Walk turn-in. If you head down Moonbeam Walk, you’ll find the entrance to the other Moonbeam streets on the left. That’s the only vehicular entrance/exit to the Moonbeam houses. However, there are several ways you can reach that entrance/exit (besides turning into Moonbeam Walk from Holland Road.) For example, you can turn into Pandan Valley, to Holland Grove Road, or even Ghim Moh Road then drive over. This makes it easier to get home during peak hours (when there may be a jam on Holland Road.)After turning left into Moonbeam Walk, you’ll notice the slight slope down.It’s steep enough that there are even a few steps to help you get down.As you can see above, the houses are located on even lower land than the road. (The grass is higher up than the pavement.)You’ll find some houses on Moonbeam Walk itself. This isn’t a very busy road but it will see more traffic than the other streets in the Moonbeam enclave, since the cars driving in and out of the Mount Sinai enclave may pass this way. There are also several condos located behind Moonbeam, such as Ridgewood and Trizon, so the road can get quite busy.Turn left off Moonbeam Walk and we’ll reach Moonbeam Terrace, which will lead onto the other Moonbeam streets.If you look at the enclave from above, the streets look like an E with a 4th line (or a comb.) Moonbeam Terrace would be the spine of the comb and the other streets the teeth. The only way to reach the streets that form the teeth is via Moonbeam Terrace (hence the “no through road” sign shown above.)I know someone living in this area, so I’ve been here several times, and there have never been parking issues (on regular days, not festival days.)The first street we reach is Moonbeam View.Street parking is allowed on most of the streets, as shown above.Most of the houses here are fairly modern, although there is still room for some to be built higher, as shown above.Looking back at Moonbeam Terrace, from which we came.Remember how I mentioned the apartments behind Moonbeam estate? You can see them above. They’re not that close though, so the houses don’t feel towered over.Some of the rebuilt houses we pass along the way.There’s also a drain in between some of the houses. This helps to increase the distance between neighbours but some people say there can sometimes be a smell. (No smell when I visited.)If you zoom in on the end of the drain, you’ll see that the next street is located above this one.And when we walk to the end of the street, we’ll find this green slope, with the Mount Sinai houses perched above. The green slope is large enough that It’s marked on the Masterplan, but steep enough that it won’t be accessible to most people (so it can’t be used as a shortcut or a playground for most people.) It made the area feel much more spacious though, as the houses at the end didn’t have neighbours on one end.I wonder what the view from the white house is like!
Now let’s head over to the next street, Moonbeam Drive.
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Another thing I like about the area is the wide pavements which make it easier to walk around without getting in the way of cars. Notice how they’re decorated with butterflies? That’s something I usually see in estates in the East, and not Bukit Timah.
I actually encountered quite a few people taking a walk around the estate more so than I usually do on these walkabouts, which could be a reflection of the fact that the Moonbeam estate is a nice place to take a stroll.
Turning into Moonbeam Drive.It’s pretty similar to Moonbeam View actually.As mentioned previously, the houses here are all on the more modern side. The most vintage-looking ones were probably the two shown above. (No single-storey houses, unlike some of the other estates we’ve visited.) There’s the same drain running through this street too. (It runs from Holland Grove and through all the Moonbeam streets.)And the same slope at the end.You can use the path by the drain as a shortcut to the other streets, which is what I did here to reach the last street (also named Moonbeam Terrace.)And this is where we emerge.Some of the houses have done a very nice job landscaping the bit next to the drain, making it feel a bit like a public park.One reason we don’t see parking issues here is because the houses have lots of space to park indoors. Just look at the driveways shown above.This one’s even large enough to park (at least) 2 cars side by side.Because the land here isn’t that flat, some of the houses have stairs leading up to their side gates.Walking towards the end of Moonbeam Terrace.From the end of Moonbeam Terrace, we can see ParkSuites, a new leasehold condo by Far East. The plot ratio is 1.4, so the apartment is low-rise. (There are also not many units, 119, to be exact.)Nice carvings on the wall of the house!We’re close enough that we can see Henry Park Primary from Moonbeam Terrace (it’s the yellow block in the background.)There wasn’t much construction going on in the neighbourhood when I visited – I think this is only the second project that I saw.Another example of the non-flat land. (Look at the pavement.)At the end of the street, there’s a staircase leading up to the main road. (This is where we started our tour.)Like the houses at the other end of the street (next to the slope), the houses here also have a green view (albeit being located next to the main Holland Road, i.e. they’re noisier. Having said that, the noise levels were quite manageable, compared to some of the other landed enclaves I’ve visited.)Here’s the staircase that’ll lead us back to Holland Road. (Note that it’s obviously not accessible for people in wheelchairs or with buggies.)Which brings us back to where we started our tour!
Now that we’ve seen the entire Moonbeam estate, how did you find it? Let me know in the comments!
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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
