In Singapore’s competitive property market, buyers often find themselves caught between their aspirations and crushing reality. Budget constraints often force…
Today, we’re back in the East, visiting Margate Road, which is a residential street that runs perpendicularly between Mountbatten Road and Meyer Road. It’s an interesting street because one end has large detached units, whilst the other end has terrace houses. In addition, it’s only 160m from Katong Park MRT! (Assuming you start from the middle of Margate Road, it’ll take you 6 minutes on foot to get to the MRT.)
Turn right on Meyer Road to walk to Katong Park. That’s also where you’ll find a large park, the closest thing this area has to a playground for kids.Looking right down Meyer Road.And now looking to the left – this way leads to Jalan Seaview, which we toured a while back, as well as Katong Park MRT.Here’s a screenshot of Google maps to show you the surroundings. As you can see, the estate is very close to East Coast Park, which is only 10 minutes away on foot. (This is unlike some of the other landed estates in the East which look close to East Coast Park on the map, but are a long walk away, due to detours that have to be made because of the construction/large roads in the area.)As shown on the Master Plan above, the houses closer to Mountbatten Road are large, whilst the houses closer to Meyer Road are all (decent sized) terrace units. Hence, the same street feels very different, depending on which end you are at. Here we are, closer to Meyer Road (where you can find the terrace units, behind us) – as you may notice, the left side of the road is almost entirely high-rise apartments. This end of Margate Road doesn’t have any street markings, so you can easily find parking.Which could be why there were dustbins out reserving parking space on the street.There are two types of terrace houses to be found here.This is the first type.And here’s the second – both are in very different styles, though each row is homogenous, giving them a neat appearance.These terrace houses are built taller than the row opposite. However, they’re right next to a tall apartment, so they feel more hemmed in. In comparison, the row of terraces opposite border single storey homes, so they feel more open. (I’m paying more attention to the terrace houses, as they’re more affordable (than detached units) so there’s usually more interest in them. Moreover, terrace houses that share a street with detached houses are usually worth paying attention to, because the neighbourhood feels more spacious (as compared to an area that comprises only terrace units – it can sometimes be impossible to find parking, or drive through the latter.)There are a few high-rise condos behind this row of terraces, but they’re far enough away to not loom over them as much.The left shows the neighbours of the taller terrace houses, whilst the right shows the neighbours of the shorter white-and-grey terrace units. Doesn’t it feel quite different?Head-on shot for you to admire the single store homes. As you can see, this are vintage houses that have been left in their original condition (though well-preserved/maintained) so there is still a lot of garden space/open land around them. (Rebuilt houses often use up every last square inch of land and so there’s very little garden/land left.) Also notice how there are no street lines here, so visitors can park on the street.As you make your way down Margate Road, that changes – here there are double yellow lines on both sides of the street so no street parking is allowed. See what I mean about how different parts of Margate Road feel different?As we get closer to Mountbatten Road, the house start becoming larger. (You don’t find any more terraces.)However, because there is an entire row of high-rise condos opposite the detached houses, this part of Margate Road (with the detached houses) oddly feels more cluttered than the end with terrace houses. (Or at least it feels that way to me! Let me show you what I mean.)Here I am, almost at the junction of Margate Road and Mountbatten Road – it’s detached houses to my right and condos to my left.Standing outside the detached house, when I look up, this is what I see. Doesn’t it make you feel a little hemmed in?If I look directly opposite (instead of up), this is the view.Moreover, as almost all the houses on this end have been redeveloped, they start very close to their gate (in comparison to the single storey units we saw earlier on.)In fact, the neighbouring house is being reconstructed!Another thing to point out is that the land the detached houses sit on appear to be slightly lower lying as I have to step down to reach the pavement. (This is not the case for the other end of the street where we find the terrace units, although the street seems quite flat when you walk down it.)On an unrelated note, I love this condo’s clubhouse/guard house/what ever that single storey structure is, the design makes it feel like a tribute to Singapore’s past, which is in keeping with the feel of East Singapore.We’re going to quickly walk down to take a look at Mountbatten Road. As you can see from the blue skies, it was a HOT and sunny day. Maybe because of the high-rise condos, the are didn’t feel quite as blisteringly warm as some of the other landed estates I’ve visited on sunny days.Love the design of the cluster house development across the road. I think it’s Mountbatten Lights, but the signage is quite small and cursive script is quite hard to make out. (Having said that, my eyesight isn’t the best.)Looking down Mountbatten Road, to the left. (Head this way for the bus stop, where you find Buses 12, 14, 14A and 196.) Mountbatten Road feels like it should be a very busy road, because it’s such a wide one. However, I always feel quite relaxed driving down it. (Maybe I’ve just been lucky to never be caught in a jam here, but it feels less busy as compared to Bukit Timah.)Looking to the right.Ok heading back down Margate Road now. I’m not taking you down Mountbatten Road as it’s pretty much residential. You find some childcare centres but not really any shops or restaurants close by.
In fact, although the East is famous for its cornucopia of good food and many landed estates in this part of Singapore are literally next door to nice eateries, this is unfortunately not the case for Margate Road. There aren’t really any good eateries very close-by. As far as I can make out, the closest food enclave would be Jalan Batu Hawker Centre, which is about a 15 minute walk away. (Depending on which end of Margate Road you live at, you can walk down either Meyer Road or Mountbatten Road to get there – both ways make quite pleasant walks.)
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A second choice would be the Tanjong Katong cafes and restaurants, around 16 minutes away. (We took quite a close look at them when we did walkabouts of Wareham Road, Bournemouth Road, and Swanage Road, so do click through if you want more information.)
Anyway enough about food, and more about the houses in the area. Here are some more examples of the detached units you can find here. As you may have noticed, all the detached units are built in different styles – it’s more of the above till we reach the single storey houses that I showed you earlier in the article.
If you have kids, you may be wondering about schools. Unfortunately, there are no Primary Schools within the 1km radius (the closest are Kong Hwa and Tanjong Katong), though you are relatively close to Dunman High.
That brings us to the end of today’s walkabout. How did you find Margate Road? It’s certainly convenient to live close to the MRT! (Margate Road is also very convenient for people who drive, as it’s just off the ECP – in fact, it’s only about a 8 minute drive from Marina Bay Sands, according to Google Maps!)
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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
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