A CORNER MASTERPIECE

This 2.5-storey corner pair of shophouses with a double frontage and a 4-storey rear extension sits along Jalan Besar and Petain Road. It is within walking distance of Farrer Park and Bendemeer MRT stations.

Jalan Besar or “big road” in Malay, started as a track through a betel nut and fruit orchard opened by the Norris Brothers in 1830s. In the 1880s and 1890s, the Municipality expanded the road and aptly named it Jalan Besar. Urbanization in the area took off after World War I in the form of ribbon-developments where agricultural land gave way to shophouses. Ribbon developments involves the building of houses along communication routes such as roads and railway lines. Notable rubber processing and pineapple canning factories in the area were owned by the Rubber and Pineapple King and well-known philanthropist, Lee Kong Chian.