In Singapore’s competitive property market, buyers often find themselves caught between their aspirations and crushing reality. Budget constraints often force…
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve passed the terrace houses along Farrer Road whilst driving to Queensway or Holland Village. As the road right outside the houses is a huge- and very busy- one, I’ve always wondered what it would be like living on that street, so today I thought we could go find out!
Here we are before the turn in to the houses on Farrer Road. As you can see, not only is there a large and busy road also named Farrer Road, right next to the houses, there’s even a flyover. Not a very promising start. However, I must say that I was surprise to find the street wasn’t as noisy as I had thought it would be! You definitely can hear the road noise, but it’s not as bad as some of the other estates that we’ve been to.As shown, if you go straight instead of turning right onto Farrer Road) there are more landed houses inside. In fact, if you continue straight down, you’ll actually end up near Botanic Gardens and Cluny Park. Hence, if Farrer Road is jammed during peak hours, you could try exiting the estate via another road instead. You have several options:Bukit Timah Road, Holland Road etc.Looking down the row of terrace houses. I like how the street allows for parking on one side. I visited during work hours and even then there were many cars parked on the street- I managed to find a spot right a the very end of the street but I wouldn’t count on street parking always being available when you visit. However, there are several paid car parks within walking distance, such as the one at Serene Centre and the one at Cluny Court, so no worries for your guests.As you can see, not all the houses here have been rebuilt so they come in a variety of heights. Generally, they’re quite a decent size for terrace units; not as small as some of the ones we saw at Macpherson, for example.See what I mean about the numbers of cars parked along the street?As indicated, this street does not lead anywhere. If you drive in and can’t find parking, you’ll need to do a 3 or 4 point turn to drive out again, or drive right to the end where there is more space to U-turn.I’m standing on the pavement outside the houses- it separates the houses on Farrer Road from the main road- and this is the view of the flyover from there for you to gauge the distance yourself.Now we have the view of the houses from the pavement. Pedestrians can sort of see inside some of the houses. Others have trees planted to block the view- I’ll show you later. But the good news for residents/ future residents is there aren’t that many people promenading here.One of the best things about living here is the proximity to amenities. As shown, you’re only 420m away from a MRT station. We’ll go into more detail on this later.
There’s also a bus stop right outside and it serves a large number of buses.
The bus stop is slightly elevated above the houses- you can see the stairs leading down- so it’s not the easiest to get to if you’re in a wheelchair or have a buggy. You could however wheel along the road and then backtrack to the bus stop.Head on view to show you what I mean about the houses being in various stages of development here. Some are still two storeys whilst others have built higher.There were several houses under construction when I visited actually.Some of the two storey houses have also not built right up to the boundary wall, leaving a decent setback in between the houses, as you can see in this photo.As mentioned, there were several street parking lots available when I visited, but only right at the end of the street.Some of the older houses also have nice long yards. As people tend to maximise internal space when they rebuild, one thing to note is that the street could be much more built up when all the houses have been redeveloped.Looking back to the entrance of the street; behind me is a dead end.Looking across the road standing on Farrer Road. One advantage of living across from a main road is that you have an unobstructed view: no houses immediately in front of you- not only a better view but this also often translates into better airflow and indoor light.Another photo to show the varying stages of redevelopment along Farrer Road.This illustrates what I said earlier about redeveloped houses being taller and longer than their neighbours.Interesting architecture. I do like red brick houses- they are pretty rare these days.Here we are standing at the end of Farrer Road. That’s Gallop Road we see in front of us but there is no vehicular access this way. You have to turn out onto the main road then turn in to Gallop Road- not too far to go actually.
Close to the end of the street is Little Oaks Montessori kindergarten. It was not in session when I visited so I’m not sure what the noise levels are like.
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Another construction project at the end of the street, quite a large one this time.Looking back towards the entrance of Farrer road from the end. It’s not a super long street.
Now let’s take a walk along Farrer Road so you can get a better idea of the traffic.
Looking towards the entrance into Farrer Road- this is during working hours but even then there’s a fair bit of traffic. If you’ve driven here after work, you’ll now it gets very jammed,.Looking in the other direction.Looking at the houses from the pavement. As mentioned before and shown here, some parts have some vegetation to make the houses more private. The greenery here is a bit sparse so it’s not that effective.But other parts are more thickly covered with plants.Walking towards the bus stop I mentioned earlier.This brings us back to entrance into Farrer Road, at which we started today’s tour.
Here’s a map for you to orientate yourself. On this side of the road, there is Serene Centre and Cluny Court, where you can find some shops and restaurants.
We’re also right across the road from the landed houses at Queens Road which we visited previously. There you’ll find NTUC at Coronation and the shophouses along Bukit Timah Road. There are some tuition centres, some local eats, and some cafes. (Click through for more photos of those amenities.)
Continue along either direction of Bukit Timah Road and you’ll find the famous schools that make Bukit Timah so famous: SCGS, ACS, MGS, Nanyang etc
In terms of public transport, besides the bus stop, you’re equidistant between two MRT stations: Farrer Road and Botanic Gardens MRT. Often when a property ad says a property is near more than 1MRT station, it actually means it’s not near any i.e. an appallingly long walk. However, at Farrer Road, you’re under 10 minutes from both stations!
Now that we’ve seen the estate and its surroundings, how did you find it? Before we go, let’s take a look at the sales transactions.
Sales are few and far between, not surprising given the small number of properties on the street. I must confess to being surprised by how high the last transaction was though: $6.55 million in 2024.
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
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