SINGAPORE — Elvin Ng may have the entire top floor to himself in his three-storey semi-detached family home, but his favourite spot is much closer to the ground.
It is a casual sitting area on the first level, tucked beside a long koi pond and framed by greenery. With a low-slung L-shaped sofa, colourful cushions, rustic brick wall and the gentle sound of running water, the space is where the 45-year-old local actor can easily spend hours reading, relaxing or sharing an informal meal with friends.
“I like this area. Unlike a proper dining room, it’s more relaxed,” says Ng. “I just chill over here, other than in my room. I could be here the whole day.”
It is part of the 5,500 sq ft property he designed and built almost a decade ago. The house, which sits on 3,300 sq ft of land in western Singapore, was completed in early 2017 after a year-long building process. Ng did not hire an interior designer, choosing instead to oversee the project himself.
The process was not always smooth — he recalls having to deal with five different contractor supervisors — but he was determined to create an abode suited to his large extended family.
The impetus was personal. It was his late father’s dream to have their family living together in a landed property.
Ng, his mother and his two siblings had previously shared a jumbo HDB flat, and when Ng’s younger brother got married and started a family, the actor began looking for a place that could accommodate everyone.
His brother and his wife lived in the house with their three children for about eight years before moving out in 2025.
It remains a family residence for Ng, his 68-year-old mother and his younger sister.
On the generous communal spaces, Ng explains that his mum comes from a large family and her siblings visit often. During Chinese New Year, gatherings can swell to 60 or 70 people, so he deliberately created different sitting areas where relatives could spread out, chat and watch television.
The spacious pondside corner also suits the homebody, who says he can happily stay indoors for a week without stepping outside.
“You work hard outside, and then you want to go back to a place and it’s just comfortable,” says the Mediacorp artiste, who is shooting the local microdrama Her Heart Is With You, which premieres in January 2027.
Design details
A pond that’s meant to be used
Rather than place the water feature at the front of the property, Ng ran it along the side of the house, turning what he describes as a long, narrow strip into usable space.
The pond has seen its share of drama. Ng once had an arowana, which at one point mistook his big toe for food and lunged at it. A platinum alligator gar also had to be removed after it began attacking the koi.
These days, things are considerably more peaceful. The fish are fed once a day and the pond runs largely on its own, although the water is changed periodically.
An accidental feature has even become part of its ecosystem. After an early drainage problem caused rainwater from the roof to flow towards Ng’s third-floor room, alterations were made to divert the water down the side of the house. In heavy rain, the run-off creates what he jokingly calls a “waterfall” into the pond.
From neutrals to colours
When the family first moved in almost a decade ago, the house was more restrained, dominated by Ng’s preferred greys, browns, wood and stone-like textures.
But his beloved corner loosened up considerably over the years.
He gradually introduced brightly coloured cushions, artworks and whimsical decorative pieces, picked up both in Singapore and on his travels.
“I made it more me,” he says of the additions. The point, he adds, is not for everything to look too coordinated or “standard”.
He also switched much of the house from white lighting to warmer illumination, despite his family’s initially conservative tastes, and retained textured brick walls because he preferred their slightly rustic finish.
Ng tends to the greenery himself when he can, although larger pruning jobs are left to professional gardeners. Trees planted close together screen out the neighbouring property, giving his special space a secluded feel.
Nearly a decade after moving in, the bachelor still believes a home should evolve along with the people living in it, rather than be designed for some distant idea of permanence.
But there is one thing he is certain of. “As long as my mum is around, we are going to be here.”
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
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