If you’ve read a few articles in this landed estate walkabout tour series, you’ll have noticed that I am a big fan of terrace houses which have detached or semi-detached neighbours. This is because it often means the landed estate, as a whole, feels more spacious, with more space between the houses. That means better ventilation and clearer streets. When your neighbours have larger houses, it is not unusual for them to have larger car porches, and thus don’t need to park on the street. One such estate is Merryn Avenue, Merryn Close, Merryn Drive, and Merryn Terrace- on these two small streets, you can find smaller terrace houses in contrast to the more imposing houses along Merryn Road.
For those not familiar with the area, here is a map to help you situate yourself:
As you can see, these streets are in the heart of Bukit Timah, located just off Whitley Road and the Tanglin Community Club (CC.) They’re in between a Caltex petrol station and the Raffles Town Club. A 10 minute walk will bring you to Stevens MRT which is on the Downtown and Thomson-East Coast lines. Next to Stevens MRT you’ll find Alocassia, where there is a tiny Cold Storage, MacDonalds, and a few restaurants/ cafes. The walk isn’t super pleasant though as the traffic is heavy. To be honest, the amenities around here aren’t the most exciting, but you’re not far from Orchard Road. In addition, this area is popular with families with young kids as it’s within one kilometre of many famous schools, the closest probably being Singapore Chinese Girls School.
For those wondering about the price points, here are the sales histories of the four streets:
The last sale on Merryn Avenue was in 2022 for $5.8million.
Of the four streets, the most recent sale took place on Merryn Terrace, in 2025, for $6.18million.
The last sale in Merryn Close occured way back in 2010 though, so unfortunately the price data isn’t very helpful.
Lastly, a $4.3 million sale in 2022 on Merryn Drive:
Now none of these sale prices are what most of us would consider affordable. However, in comparison, looking below you can see that the houses around sell for much more:
The most recent sale within one kilometre took place along Merryn Road for $18.5 million. i.e. on these four streets, you’re paying “only” about one-third the price to enjoy almost the same surroundings and amenities! It reminds me of the old British property saying to buy the worst house on the best street.
Now on to view the actual houses!
Standing on Merryn Road (no parking here) and looking towards Whitley Road and Merryn Drive, Merryn Avenue, Merryn Close, and Merryn Terrace. Behind me are more detached units but we’ll walk straight on to take a closer look at those four streets.Opposite Merryn Avenue is a condo. There are a few low-rise ones in the neighbourhood but they’re so discreetly built you barely notice them.There is a small canal separating the terrace houses on Merryn Avenue from Merryn Road, increasing the set back from the main road.Here’s the turn in to Merryn Avenue, the furthest-in location of the foru streets. It is. however, closer to the PIE than the other three streets. The PIE runs right behind Merryn Avenue, parallel to Merryn Road.Although street parking is allowed on Merryn Avenue, it’s impossible to find a car parking space.Looking down Merryn Avenue so you can see for yourself.Here’s what the properties look like.Most of the units on this street have not been rebuilt.See what I mean about parking space? If you drive further along Merryn Avenue, there will be parking spaces outside the bigger houses – so it’s not impossible to find street parking in this estate. It’s just not as convenient for your guests as having parking right outside your property.This is the last house on the street i.e. no neighbour on one side but closest to the PIE.The PIE lies behind this foliage.Nice stretch of greenery in between.Looking back towards Merryn Road so you can see how short this street is for yourself.The sun was in your eyes there so here’s another shot; only gets half the street though.Looking to the right – towards the inside of the Merryn Road estate – before continuing with our tour.Taking a photo from the other side of the road so you can see what Merryn Avenue looks like in relation to its surroundings. Side note: I like the fact that there are pavements on both sides of Merryn Road. It helps to widen the area.Continuing our walk towards the other three streets and Whitley Road.There is the tiniest little gap in between the two row of terrace houses on Merryn Avenue and Merryn Terrace. It is quite narrow to walk through so whilst it does serve to sort of buffer you from your neighbour, I wonder if it’s more hindrance than help; for example, will water or rubbish get stuck there? Whose responsibility would it be to keep the area clear? It would be a pain to have to clean it!
Now turning in to Merryn Terrace which, as you can see, is just a stone’s throw away.
One of the criticisms I tend to hear about property seminars - both from investors and local realtors - is…
Ryan J. Ong ·
8 Oct 2023 ·
0 comments
The houses.A rebuilt unit here.Looking towards the end of the street. It’s not too different from Merryn Avenue. Fewer cars, but still no street parking available- unless you want to block a resident’s front gate – because of the way the house entrances are arranged.This picture shows you what I mean about the entrances/ street parking situation.Walking over to the other side of the road and zooming out to show you what the turn in to Merryn Terrace looks like.Now for Merryn Close. So far this is my favorite of the three streets, because there are only houses on one side of the road. The other side is the side profile of a house, as shown here, and not another row of houses. It feels more private and less cluttered.Here’s what the actual houses on Merryn Close look like. I can see why the residents here seldom sell.Alas, still no street parking.There are also some terrace houses on the main Merryn Road. I typically don’t like staying on a main road but this one isn’t as busy as, say, Sixth Avenue.Zoomed out so you can see what they look like relative to the main road here.This brings us to the fourth street, Merryn Drive.It’s also the closest to Whitley Road.The houses.Although the street isn’t filled with cars, the dust bins are out to reserve the street parking spaces.A photo to show you some of the larger neighbours, and neighbourhood events.
This brings us to the end of today’s tour. How did you find the area? Let me know if you also liked Merryn Close best or if you would prefer to stay on one of the other three streets!
At Stacked, we like to look beyond the headlines and surface-level numbers, and focus on how things play out in the real world.
If you’d like to discuss how this applies to your own circumstances, you can reach out for a one-to-one consultation here.
And if you simply have a question or want to share a thought, feel free to write to us at stories@stackedhomes.com — we read every message.
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
0 Comments