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Design Story:
JARDIN
There was a quiet, old-money soul to this quaint bungalow when we first visited it, with its breezy high ceiling and generous tiered back garden. The house dates back to the British colonial 1950s, and the story of its early ownership was passed down as it changed hands over the decades. We listened enraptured as the current owner told us the tale of the British statesman and his French lady love who first turned this house into a home. We were told the madame was particularly enamoured with tropical botany, and often spent hours tending to her garden in the backyard.
The story of the home’s first owners became the inspiration for the concept of JARDIN, with the house and its surrounding garden becoming a metaphor of the couple. In the rapidly-transforming cityscape of Johor Bahru and Singapore where older buildings are often razed down in favour of more modern structures, our wish for JARDIN is to preserve the charming details of its rich stories in decades past, all while it receives a fresh update to become a Meikyoushisui vacation home.
Part I : Of him
The house’s structure, standing firm and unwavering with little to no modifications over the years, bears a likeness to the stoic British statesman, who played a key role in enforcing governance and structure in Malaya at the tail end of the colonisation. To represent our leading man, we featured prominently the black-and-white motif iconic to the British colonial period.
The popular design featuring whitewashed walls and dark timber beams was favoured among the British who had come to settle in Malaya, as it was a cooling adaptation to the local tropical heat. Similarly, we clad the exterior of JARDIN house in black and white colours and dark wooden blinds. The freshly constructed alfresco spaces were decked with intentionally diagonal-cut black-and-white square tiles, evoking the laidback elegance of the British Colonial period.
We had some spectacularly on-theme finds for loose furniture as well. The chess piece console table is among our favourites in the house, echoing the black-and-white ‘chessboard’ outdoor patios and adding a whimsical Alice-in-Wonderland element to the garden home. The black-and-white mosaic table by the pool is another fan favourite.
The high-quality marble flooring throughout the house is the original floor from the 1950s, having stood the test of time. It took us a quick polish to regain its former gleam, and we cannot stop admiring the grandeur of the white marble with dark streaks. It also runs cool underfoot, effectively combating the heat of the tropics as it has done all these years.
Part II : Of her
The garden breathes of the madame. The sways and sighs of the plant life give a soft and romantic quality to the property, a contrast against the firm impartiality of the black-and-white house. It is charming and poetic how the green stretches of the front and back gardens seem to envelop the house in a hug. The garden’s greens and the decorative golds in this house represent the madame and her feminine influence.
The French style has historically carried a sense of opulence, with favour for luxurious colours and materials. We borrowed from that taste and used a deep emerald green in the rooms to convey both closeness to nature and understated luxury. Gold was the choice of finish for the decorative pendant lights and wall lamps, and we have a soft spot for the custom gold framed mirror that was commissioned for the hallway.
To bring a flavour of French artistry into the home, we looked to the Art Deco movement (the Arts décoratifs) which swept Europe from the 1920s. Though this penchant for artistic flamboyance in interior design mellowed post-World War II, we captured remnants of its decorative spirit through patterned tile choices around the house. We also intentionally preserved the window and door grilles with their decorative floral curlicues, as well as selected a statement chandelier above the dining table featuring similar motifs.
If you are in the back garden, spy the intricate floral carvings in the table and pillars flanking the pond, as well as the sculpted seahorse fountain in the wall, yet another elegant heritage piece left behind by former owners.
Part III : The marriage
To marry the house and the garden into one harmonious estate, we were keen to break down the barriers between the two, in a literal fashion. The thorough integration of indoor-outdoor spaces romantically symbolises the union of our leading man and wife.
Formerly closed up and conservative in structure, we hacked the walls and formed multiple entryways around the periphery of the house, flooding the interior with nature and light. We love the bedroom that opens up to the sparkling blue pool as well as the heritage double doors that offer views of the charming back garden.
A bolder choice we made to enhance the enjoyment of the new entertainment amenities in the home was hacking right through the living room wall and installing an outdoor projector, expanding the living area outwards. This hybrid indoor-outdoor viewing offers a different experience, akin to an outdoor cinema when the daylight fades, yet viewers remain comfortably seated in air conditioning. It is one of the several ways in which we have endeavoured to bring home the indoors-outdoors theme in this property.
