Bukit Teresa Close is a little known landed enclave hidden in between the HDB estates of Telok Blangah and Bukit Purmei. As the area is better known for its public housing than landed houses, I found the area intriguing and had been meaning to visit for a while. When I finally made my way over, the road leading to the estate was so quiet and winding that I wondered if Google Maps was leading me down the wrong path! It was not.
There is only 1 way to drive in and out of the estate, which is through Bukit Teresa Road. Bukit Teresa Close is next to the AYE so the surroundings are not very built up and it feels quite peaceful driving in. On the way, you pass the Church of St. Teresa, which is a very picturesque place of worship. You can see the way in on the map below.
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It’s about a 15 minute walk in from the bus stop on Bukit Teresa Road (also where you find the church) in to Bukit Teresa Close. (Buses 61, 124, 143, and 166 stop there.) Alternatively you can take a short cut down to Lower Delta Road, where another bus stop lies. There you’ll find buses 65, 121, 123, 123M, 131, 195, 195A and 855. On property ads, the area is sometimes advertised as being in between 3 MRT stations, which really is just another way of saying it’s not walking distance to any: it’s about a 30 minutes walk to the MRT station.
OK, now that we’ve covered the public transport around the landed estate, let’s take a walk in.
Here we are along Bukit Teresa Road, we’ve already passed Harbour Ville Hotel and Church of St Teresa Singapore with CHIJ on our right and the AYE on our left. The landed estate is behind us.A closer photo of the AYE so you can see what the traffic situation is like. It can get quite jammed at peak hours.A photo of CHIJ. Bukit Teresa Road has a white line drawn down it, so cars are not allowed to park along it. However, I’d still suggest checking out the estate before school starts and after school ends to see what the road situation is like.We walk a little closer to the landed estate and are now slightly elevated above a HDB estate (Bukit Purmei estate.) This is also the closest car park for your visiting friends and family as the entire landed estate is zoned no parking.With the landed estate lying behind us, this is the view towards the main road. The area to our left is zoned as a Civic and Community Institution, marked red on the Master Plan shown below. Part of it is Carmelite Monastery- did you even know a monastery existed in Singapore?One of the first houses we pass is a large one, elevated above the main road. That driveway is pretty impressive!Pass the large house and we start seeing some smaller properties, by which I mean semi-detached units, so not really that small.Here’s a close-up of the semi-Ds.Although the article is titled “Bukit Teresa Close”, we’re actually visiting houses along both Bukit Teresa Road and Bukit Teresa Close. Here we take a left off the main Bukit Teresa Road, to a side street - also named Bukit Teresa Road - where you’ll find houses on one side of the road and a HDB estate on the other.Looking to the side with the HDB blocks and its nice large car park. It would have been ideal if there was vehicular access to the HDB car park, as visitors to the landed estate may not realise that there is nowhere to park in it. Alas there is only pedestrian access, a five- minute walk; so you have to drive for about 10 minutes to get to it.There is a small outdoor fitness corner at the HDB estate, which is handy because the landed estate does not have its own playground or park.The houses on the street. I wonder if the houses are built on sloping land as several have staircases on one side.See what I mean about no parking in this estate? Note the double yellow lines on both sides of the road.A photo to show you how elevated we are above the HDB estate. Unfortunately as the HDB blocks are taller than the landed houses, the view of most of the houses are blocked. The ones at the end of the street do have quite an unrestricted view which I’ll show you later.
Right at the end of the cul-de-sac is a staircase down to Radin Mas Primary School and the HDB estate where you’ll find a basketball court and nice open green space. The two amenities were well-utilized and you can hear the kids’ shouts from where I’ms standing. Mind you, school was not in session when I visited so I would suggest visiting during recess or PE to see what the noise levels are like living next to a Primary School.
These are the houses at the end of the cul-de-sac. As you have seen above, the basketball court is on much lower land, so the house at the end of the street will have an unblocked view from the side.Walking back to the main Bukit Teresa Road to take a look at the properties on Bukit Teresa Close. From the Masterplan, the houses we passed look like they are the smallest in this estate (i.e. all other things being equal, they should be the most affordable, excluding the strata properties.)Here we are on another street in the estate.Judging from Google Maps, I think that’s the condo Teresa Ville behind us- not to be confused with the strata landed housing project Teresa Villas which we’ll take a look at later.More houses.Teresa Vilas, the cluster house I mentioned earlier. There are actually two cluster houses inside this small estate- the other is Teresa 8. I believe this should be Teresa 8.Looking back towards the main Bukit Teresa road.See what I mean about the foliage? They do help block off the car noise somewhat.Peeking through the gaps to show you that we’re perched above the AYE here. This is the house closest to the edge of the road. The houses on the other side.More no parking road markings. Thank goodness for the proximity of the HDB car park!
At the time of writing, there were only two properties here for sale- 1 was a cluster unit for $3.6 million (the name of the development was not indicated but I suspect it’s Teresa 8 from the exterior) and another was a detached unit for $20 million! According to the ad, the property which spans over 11,000 sq ft. is “ideal for redevelopment” so who knows what changes to the neighbourhood its sale would bring?
If you’re wondering about transacted prices, sales are quite few and far between, probably because of the small number of units found in the estate (or maybe happy residents who don’t want to leave?)
This brings us to the end of today’s tour.
How did you find the area? I feel a bit conflicted about it: on one hand, I love how the estate is perched above everything and how the long drive in makes it feel very exclusive. At the same time, whilst the estate feels private, you don’t feel cut off from the rest of the world. On the other hand, two primary schools and the AYE aren’t the best neighbours if you’re looking for peace and quiet, so it’s a bit of a contradiction here.
Let me know what you think 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
1 Comments
Ian
“One of the first houses we pass is a large one, elevated above the main road. That driveway is pretty impressive!” This caption to 1 of the first few pictures actually shows the driveway of the Carmelite Monastery on elevated ground, which is why it is so long.
1 Comments
“One of the first houses we pass is a large one, elevated above the main road. That driveway is pretty impressive!”
This caption to 1 of the first few pictures actually shows the driveway of the Carmelite Monastery on elevated ground, which is why it is so long.