Somewhere near Holland Village MRT station is a street called Cornwall Gardens. A stroll in will make you wonder if you’ve not just stepped into the territory of the Crazy Rich Asians.
The houses there are massive. Among the concrete giants sits one resembling a tropical rainforest — or in Singaporean context, the Botanic Gardens.
This 1,500-square-metre, 3-storey, multi-generational house features a swimming pool, a waterfall, a terraced roof garden, a library, a gym, and of course, an abundance of verdure.
Let’s have a closer look at this gorgeous rendition of tropical paradise.
From the outside, the house may look like any other colossal house of a very rich family — black stone walls with plants lining its balcony for both privacy and polish.
But step inside and you’ll be met immediately by the courtyard swimming pool. The pristine blue of the water will tempt anyone into it, especially in our ungodly equatorial heat. Lining the perimeter of the pool are large stones, reinforcing the natural aesthetic of the place.
A short way further in is a Koi pond with a small – okay, maybe not that small – waterfall. Again, every part of the pond is designed to give the impression of it being natural.
Even the walkways run alongside a whole variety of plants. This will probably be perfect for children playing catching as they duck beneath the shrubs and escape the eyes of the catcher.
Also on the ground level is the open-air dining area — it would be a shame if it were indoors and deprived of the serene atmosphere of the courtyard.
Every part of Cornwall Gardens is purposefully designed. The stairs leading to the second level are not your usual uniform ones. Instead, they mimic nature’s irregular form.
The individual bedrooms – there are 6 of them – are no less splendid than the rest of the house. With parquet flooring and wide ‘windows’ facing the open courtyard, it’ll feel more like a resort in Bali than a house in Singapore.
Passageways are open-aired as well. This makes the house seem more like a really expensive and structurally-stable tree house than an actual house.
The mini-library, like the bedrooms, gives a broad, relaxing view of the courtyard as well. The natural light that floods into the room makes it perfect for an afternoon read on the couch.
Finally, we get to the top floor, if it can even be considered a proper floor. The roof terrace gardens feature tall steps on which to sit and enjoy an aerial view of the rest of the neighbourhood.
For a unique house like this, it’s not surprising that it’s been nominated for several awards, and even won one of them.
In 2015, it was shortlisted for the house of the year award at the World Architecture Festival 2015. But the award later went to a house in Vietnam. Then in 2016, it took the crown for Architizer’s 2016 A+Awards — which, from what we know, is fairly prestigious.
This house isn’t accessible to public — duh. But it’s nonetheless cool to know that there are houses in Singapore that spice up our landscape.
Featured image from Dezeen.
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