6 notable shophouses in Singapore and the stories behind them

Katong Antique House is pure living memory. This Peranakan house has been perfectly preserved as it was in the old days, and is filled with heirlooms and artefacts including traditional Peranakan crockery, jewellery, beaded slippers, costumes, furniture and photographs of Singapore's earlier generations of Babas and Bibiks. The vast collection can be credited to 40 long years of effort by Mr. Peter Wee, a fourth generation Peranakan who inherited the house from his maternal grandfather in 1966. Himself the great-grandson of philanthropist Tan Keong Saik, Baba Peter Wee bought, restored and sold Peranakan-related items from 1971 and eventually turned his inheritance into Katong Antique House in 1979. Although he has since passed on, his legacy, alongside Peranakan culture and heritage, continues to live on in this irreplaceable private museum. 

Meet 100 years of Peranakan history at Katong Antique House. 

Known as Hotel Calmo today, this three-storey building was once the buzziest opera house in all of Singapore. Built in 1887, the Former Lai Chun Yuen put on plays two times a day – sometimes featuring famous opera stars from Hong Kong and China – to entertain immigrants. Audiences would sit on the first floor to watch the plays on the second level, while wealthier patrons occupied private cubicles. The theatre was also a hotspot for vice, with opium smoking a common sight. 

Former Lai Chun Yuen is not strictly a shophouse. It was designed Regent Alfred Bidwell (also the man behind Raffles Hotel and Stamford Hotel) in the style of a grand Chinese teahouse. However, Lai Chun Yuen was so popular that it brought flourishing business to the markets and street vendors in the surrounding shophouses of Kreta Ayer. Its popularity waned with the rise of movies in the late 1920s, and the building was badly damaged during World War II. Thankfully, it was able to be restored and has survived till this day as a prominent landmark in Chinatown. 

The shophouse at 9 Neil road has the honour of being the first unit to undergo reconstruction in 1989. Completed in just four months, it served as a model for how other shophouses in the area could be beautifully restored and adapted for today. Today, this unit is home to Tea Chapter, the largest and oldest teahouse in Singapore. Visit this tranquil space to learn the art and philosophy of Chinese tea-making in well-appointed rooms which have been designed in Korean and Japanese styles. While there, go for its signature Imperial Golden Cassia, which is the same tea that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip savoured when they visited the shophouse in 1989. 

Dong Ya Building is a prime example of an Art Deco shophouse. With its sleek lines and smooth curvature, its sits pretty on the intersection between Keong Saik Road and Teck Lim Road. Since 1939, when the shophouse was built, the iconic Tong Ah Eating House was where people gathered for a humble breakfast of kopi and toast. It saw through the 1960s to 1980s, when the surrounding Keong Saik area was gripped with vice – brothels, gambling, gang fights and opium abuse. After 75 years, Tong Ah Eating House finally moved out of Dong Ya Building and moved across the street amidst increasing gentrification in the 'hood. Today, Dong Ya Building is taken up by Potato Head, a trendy bar and lounge where patrons can enjoy tipples, good food and good vibes. 

This long, three-storey shophouse on Craig Road is the only one of the block that's not been refurbished, and for good reason. It is lined and packed with trinkets and treasures – from jade cabbages in cabinets, porcelain plates on the walls and typewriters lining the stairwells, to old Chinese dressing tables and an ancient music player that looks like an oversized, numberless grandfather clock with the functions of a pianola.

Tong Mern Sern is owned by Keng Ah Wong, who's been in the antique business for more than 40 years. He started out at Tomlinson Road and moved to a few different shops before settling at Craig Road in 1989. He continues his work to this day, with the help of his daughter Clara Keng, sourcing, restoring, and selling old treasures to eager buyers and collectors. As the yellow banner in the front of the shop proclaims: “We buy junk and sell antiques. Some fools buy, some fools sell.” 

The NUS Baba House is prized as one of Singapore's most authentic remaining Peranakan residential properties. Built around 1895, it was the ancestral home of the Wees, a Peranakan Chinese family descended from the shipping merchant Wee Bin. The family acquired the house in 1910 and they lived there for decades. In 2006, the house changed hands through the funds donated by Agnes Tan in memory of her late father Tun Tan Cheng Lock. 

Today, NUS Baba House stands as a heritage house dedicated to Straits Chinese culture. The first and second floors will give you a glimpse of the lives of the Wee family in the shophouse, with their original furniture displayed alongside donated gems. The third floor, originally a bedroom, has been converted into a gallery space for exhibitions regarding Peranakan history and culture. 

Book a heritage tour or self-guided visit. Admission is free.