Last traditional Teochew mansion reopening as lifestyle destination

It features immersive heritage gallery, event spaces and a fine-dining restaurant

- Chin Soo Fang Senior Correspondent

Built between 1882 and 1885, the double-storey building was the private residence of Teochew merchant Tan Yeok Nee, who hailed from Chaozhou prefecture in Guangdong. The building is the only remaining one of Singapore's Four Grand Mansions built by Teochew tycoons in the late 1800s.

(ST PHOTOS: HESTER TAN)

The last traditional Teochew mansion in Singapore will reopen to the public from Nov 1, for the first time in more than 140 years.

The House of Tan Yeok Nee, which was acquired by the Karim Family Foundation in 2022, will serve as a heritage landmark and a multi-functional lifestyle destination, featuring an immersive gallery, fine-dining restaurant Loca Niru with contemporary Japanese-French cuisine, and event spaces.

Sited on 26,321 sq ft of freehold land - about half the size of a football field - the mansion at 101 Penang Road includes a central residence with two courtyards, surrounded by spaces that have been converted into offices for the Karim group of companies.

Extensive restoration started in 2024, led by DP Architects (DPA) and an architectural conservationist, Associate Professor Yeo Kang Shua from the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Built between 1882 and 1885, the double-storey building was the private residence of Teochew merchant Tan Yeok Nee, who hailed from Chaozhou prefecture in China’s Guangdong province. He came to Singapore in the 1840s to start a new life as a textile peddler, and later forged his way into the lucrative trade in pepper, gambier, opium and spirits.

Now, the mansion’s new heritage gallery offers the public a close look at its architecture, craftsmanship and conservation journey.

Its Artist-in-Residence programme debuts with Singaporean artist Tan Ngiap Heng, 59, the great-great-grandson of the late tycoon. Mr Tan will present two series in the gallery that explore ancestry and identity.