May 2016

CONTENTS

NEWS 16 News Headlines 18 Reader Awards 2016:

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Buyers’ Guide:

Sideboards, benches and consoles

Find out who won our annual competition

20 Calendar Updates:

Events happening around town

28 Readers’ Letters HOME 34 News 38 Competition:

Win $2,600 worth of prizes from Arete Culture!

40 Home Showcase:

Peek into a stunning historical house 52 Styling a Black & White: Expert tips for adding the perfect touch 54 Antique Accessories: Shopping recommendations for unique antiques 60 Home Showcase: Visit this picturesque home on Mount Pleasant Drive 74 Buyers’ Guide: Sideboards, benches and consoles PROPERTY 88 Smart Moves: A modern, contemporary condo revamp 95 Relocation, Relocation: Reader-recommended removal companies 102 Street Talk: Living at Jalan Besar

HOME

ARTS & LEISURE 110 On the Stage: The latest in live music, dance and theatre 114 On the Screen: Film and TV highlights of the month 116 On the Page: Recent book releases 122 On the Wall: What’s on in the art scene 114 Social Snaps: Pics from events around town

From Belgium, withLove BY VERNEMAREE PHOTOGRAPHY KYMBERNABE Immediately after you swing left fromhectic ThomsonRoad into leafy,meanderingMount Pleasant, a cool haven ofmature saga trees interspersed with cinnamon, palm and fig, you involuntarily relax, slow down and just breathe. It’s so green, so shady, so, well… pleasant .Whowouldnotwant to live in such a rarefied colonial ambience, surrounded by nature and steeped in history?ANNE-JEAN LIÉTAER showed Verne Maree around her lovely retreat. Who lives in the house: Belgian expatAnne-Jean Liétaer, her Belgian-bornGreekhusbandPanagiotisand their fourchildren, Constantin (12),Marguerite (11),Alexandre (7) andLeonard (3), wellguardedbyCookie theSPCA rescuedog. Time inSingapore: Initially from 1997 to2002, followedbynine months in Shanghai. Returned to Belgium in 2003, and came back toSingapore in2007 “with twochildrenand foursuitcases”. Historical note: Mount Pleasant’s elegant pre-war black-and- white houseswere built for the families of colonialBritish police officers.Apart frombeing thenameof ahill,MountPleasantwas also thenameof the 1860smansionofearly residentG.H.Brown, who owned the estate at that time – explaining the name of the neighbouringBukitBrownCemetery ( bukit meaning “hill”).

Home Showcase: Visit this picturesque house on Mount Pleasant Drive

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