Perhaps a few Botanic Gardens-goers will notice a beautiful colonial house standing at the top of a small hill at Gallop Road. It is the former French Embassy to Singapore, also known as the Atbara House.
Built in 1898 by well-known architect Regent Alfred John Bidwell (1869–1918), who also designed the Raffles Hotel, Stamford House and Goodwood Park Hotel, the Atbara House possesses English-flavoured white walls with distinctive black outlines and a red roof.
The main stairway is laid with red mosaic tiles that give a welcoming feel, while the secondary stairway leads to a sheltered porch probably for the ambassador’s car.
At its ground level, the double-storey building is decorated with a series of Victorian-styled pillars with curved plasterworks that display an elegant and romantic appeal.
Today, despite its dilapidated roof, peeling walls and overgrown bushes covering part of the structure, the Atbara House still displays a sense of pride which speaks volumes about its 114-year history.
In September 1999, the French Embassy was relocated to a new building at nearby Cluny Park Road. But this old embassy, which represents a part of Singapore’s history, should be considered by the authority for conservation.
Published: 23 April 2011
Wow! Great photo shots with beautiful scenary! It seems a little spooky and looks haunted?
hi Jeffery, thanks.
It may look haunted at night but during the day, its colonial flavour and its peaceful surrounding are absolutely captivating..
Hi nice nostalgic photos! Im thinking of doing a vintage type of photo session outside this place,do we still have to ask permission or as long as it subtle,it’s ok to take photos around the area? Thanks! =)
hi, you can do that outside the house but don’t try to go inside the building…
sometimes, security personnel are present but i guess you can talk to them nicely
Thanks! Keep the vintage photos coming! They’re beautiful.=)
Lovely! Really like your posts!
thanks Xi!
Have you been visit another abandon place. The Keat Hong Camp?
Hmm.. The old Keat Hong Camp in CCK? Nope not yet
I enjoyed meals at the French Ambassador’s house here in the early 1980s. The Ambassador’s wife kept her horse on site (the govt couldn’t stop her — diplomatic territory!) and the horse actually wandered into the kitchen via the back door looking for treats from the
Vietnamese chef.
Pity this couldnt be restored and preserved as a Heritage Building because of its history and charming “colonial” architecture. Such building shouldnt be lost in the modernity of our island’s faceless urban landscapes
Really enjoy browsing your website. Thanks!
In the Singapore context History starts from 1965. So all these beautiful sites and many stories if only the walls could talk will be destroyed then removed and completely forgotten. It is sad but that is how things are, preserving history does not bring money. It really hurts me when I see some of these places go (disappear forever). Thank you for preserving these photographs, they speak more than 1000 words. Thank you.
This remenbers me so fondly the ancient time in the 55′s/58′s when my father worked in this place … We lived up the hill in the residence nearby (7 Gallop road) that was demolished, I heard. This are wonderful memories. So sad to see it abandonned.
An ancient french little girl in Singapore.