There is a short stretch of road tucked behind Stevens Road where the trees grow tall enough to block the afternoon sun and the only sounds are birdsong and the occasional crunch of a car on the gravel driveway. White House Park is that place. One of Singapore’s 39 gazetted Good Class Bungalow Areas, it sits inside District 10’s most coveted Tanglin corridor — close enough to Orchard Road to feel metropolitan, yet screened by mature rain trees and an almost village-like quietness that money alone cannot manufacture. For a buyer who has spent their career accumulating wealth and is now ready to plant roots in something permanent, White House Park is not just an address; it is a statement about what they value.
The area encompasses a compact cluster of detached bungalows accessed primarily via White House Park Road off Stevens Road. Plots here range from the statutory minimum of 1,400 sq m (15,070 sq ft) up to estate-scaled landholdings exceeding 2,800 sq m, the threshold that permits sub-division into two GCB plots (as of 2026-01). Each lot is governed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s GCB planning parameters: maximum two-storey build height, a site coverage cap of 40%, and green buffer requirements that ensure generous setbacks between neighbours. The result is a streetscape of generous, low-slung homes surrounded by gardens — a built form that has changed little since the URA’s 1991 conservation designation.
What makes White House Park distinctive even within the elite GCB universe is its provenance. The land traces back to a 54-acre plantation owned in the early 19th century by Gilbert Angus, an auctioneer whose name gave “Glencaird” — the now-conserved colonial bungalow at the estate’s heart — its historical resonance. Wheelock Properties acquired the entire site for S$98 million in 1996 and engaged architect Ernesto Bedmar to design the 11 contemporary GCBs around the retained Glencaird mansion, completing the project in 1999. That integrated origin means the streetscape is unusually cohesive for a GCB area: the homes share a common architectural language and the landscaping was planned at estate scale rather than assembled piecemeal over decades.
Singapore’s Good Class Bungalow market entered 2026 with quiet confidence after a year of recalibration. According to EdgeProp data, there were 28 GCB transactions totalling S$966 million across the whole of 2025 — a market that remains thin by volume but enormous by value (as of 2025-12). Price discovery at White House Park has been active: a detached house on the road transacted at S$40 million (S$2,636 psf on land) in April 2025, and earlier data confirmed a separate White House Park GCB sold for close to S$60 million, underscoring the premium that the estate’s architect-designed homogeneity commands over individually-assembled GCB rows elsewhere in D10.
The policy backdrop matters here. Singapore continues to restrict GCB ownership to Singapore citizens under the Residential Property Act 1976, and Permanent Residents require Land Dealings (Approval) Unit (LDAU) approval before acquiring these properties — a regulatory filter that permanently keeps speculative foreign capital out of the market. The Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) framework, administered by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), raised duties for non-citizens to 60% in 2023, further concentrating demand among first-time citizen buyers and family-office principals restructuring their balance sheets through Singapore vehicles. For White House Park specifically, the ultra-prime location and limited supply of only 11 original plots mean any availability event draws serious attention from the island’s wealthiest families.
The proximity to Stevens MRT (Downtown Line) — a five-minute walk per Google Maps data — has quietly elevated the practical case for families with multiple members in varying life stages who do not always want to depend on private transport. The Botanic Gardens MRT is reachable in under eight minutes. That dual-station walkability is unusual for a GCB enclave, and it is generating renewed interest from younger ultra-high-net-worth buyers who are less attached to the purely car-centric GCB lifestyle of an earlier generation (as of 2026-01).
White House Park is a gazetted Good Class Bungalow Area (GCBA) in District 10. GCBAs are Singapore's most exclusive residential zones — plots must be at least 1,400 sqm, capped at two storeys, and ownership is restricted to Singapore Citizens (Permanent Residents require an LDAU exception in rare cases).
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Methodology
Transaction figures are sourced from URA REALIS caveats (typically 2-4 week lag). Plot-area threshold of 1,400 sqm is enforced per the URA gazette. Only Detached property types are counted; Strata Detached cluster homes within the GCBA are excluded. GCBA assignment uses our internal street→area gazetteer (view all 39 GCBAs).
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Architect-designed estate coherence. Of Singapore’s 39 GCB areas, very few were master-planned as a single development project. White House Park’s 11 Bedmar-designed homes share consistent setbacks, a curated landscaping palette, and a common construction vintage. This coherence protects streetscape quality and makes it structurally harder for a single poorly-maintained property to drag down the area’s visual appeal — a real risk in older GCB pockets where plots have been built on and extended by different owners over 60 years. For buyers who care about what they see from their living room window, this is a material advantage.
Freehold land tenure. All GCB lots in Singapore are freehold. In a market where even ultra-luxury condominiums increasingly trade on 99-year leases, the absence of lease decay is a first-order investment consideration. A S$40 million freehold GCB land parcel does not erode in title value over time. The distinction between a GCB and a regular detached house is primarily one of planning protection: the 1,400 sq m minimum and the 39-area gazette ensure that GCB land cannot be sub-divided into terrace-sized plots or replaced by apartments. That supply cap is enforced at the planning level and will not change without a policy reversal that Singapore has shown no inclination to make.
District 10 location premium. District 10 consistently records Singapore’s highest psf values for landed housing. Its GCB areas — Nassim, Cluny Park, and White House Park among them — cluster in the Tanglin – Orchard corridor, giving residents walkable proximity to the Singapore Botanic Gardens (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Gleneagles Hospital, and the international schools of the Bukit Timah education belt. The address is globally legible: bankers, private equity principals, and family office directors based in Singapore consistently cite D10 as the reference point when communicating residential status to international peers.
Dual MRT access. Stevens MRT (Downtown Line, DT10) opened in 2015, and Botanic Gardens MRT (Circle Line / Downtown Line interchange) is under 800 metres away. Public transport connectivity of this calibre is rare among Singapore’s GCB areas — many of which sit in Nassim Hill or Chatsworth Road pockets where the nearest MRT is 1.5 km or more. The walkable transit access future-proofs the estate against changing mobility preferences and broadens the buyer pool to families with children at international schools who may rely on bus routes supplemented by MRT. Use the MRT premium insight to model how this proximity translates to price support.
URA conservation protection. The Urban Redevelopment Authority gazetted White House Park in 1991, and the planning parameters have been consistently upheld across three decades of Master Plan iterations. The conservation status of Glencaird adds a layer of heritage accountability to the precinct. Buyers can proceed with high confidence that no high-density development will ever flank the estate: the surrounding Stevens Road corridor is zoned for low-density residential, and the Botanic Gardens buffer to the south provides permanent open-space protection from encroachment. Check the URA Master Plan map to review the current zoning boundaries before signing an option.
Extreme illiquidity. White House Park has 11 original GCB lots. In any given year, one to two may transact — and in many years, none do. A buyer must have a multi-year holding horizon and must not need to liquidate quickly. This is not a market where you can post a listing on Tuesday and expect a binding offer by Friday. Thin supply is a double-edged sword: it supports prices during up-cycles, but it makes price discovery genuinely difficult. The GCB price trend data on ShiokNest aggregates broader GCB market signals, but White House Park specifically has only a handful of comparable transactions per decade.
Absolute quantum per transaction. Even the most modestly-sized plots here are transacting above S$25 million, and estate-grade lots have cleared S$45–60 million (as of 2025-10). At these quantum levels, the stamp duty bill alone is material: a Singapore citizen buying a S$40 million GCB at current rates will incur Buyer’s Stamp Duty of roughly S$1.5 million on a conservative estimate, plus legal, agent, and renovation costs. The mortgage calculator is the first tool to run: most GCB buyers finance conservatively (LTV 50% or below, given MAS TDSR constraints on non-income-generating landholdings), which implies equity requirements of S$20 million or more for a typical purchase.
Reconstruction costs and maintenance burden. The Bedmar-designed homes were completed in 1999, placing them at approximately 26–27 years old in 2026. High-specification tropical bungalows of this era typically require significant refurbishment at the 25–30 year mark: M&E systems, timber elements, pool structures, and landscaping all come due simultaneously. A buyer should budget S$2–5 million for a full reconstruction or top-to-toe renovation, depending on scope and conservation requirements around Glencaird. For a worked breakdown of annual holding costs beyond the purchase price, see our GCB holding cost guide.
Citizen-only ownership restriction. Singapore citizens are the only buyers who can acquire a GCB without LDAU approval. PRs face a lengthy and uncertain approval process; foreigners cannot own GCBs under the Residential Property Act. This is not a risk for eligible buyers, but it is a consideration for resale exit planning: your buyer pool is structurally limited, which reinforces the illiquidity point above. Any structural change to the family (loss of citizenship, estate restructuring) requires professional advice before the title changes hands.
[
{
"persona": "Singapore-citizen ultra-HNWI seeking permanent family home",
"fit_color": "green",
"reason": "White House Park is purpose-built for the citizen buyer who wants freehold GCB land in the most coveted D10 corridor, with architectural coherence and dual MRT access that other GCB areas lack."
},
{
"persona": "Singapore family office principal (citizen)",
"fit_color": "green",
"reason": "The estate’s status as an internationally legible address — backed by freehold tenure, URA conservation, and provenance — aligns with wealth-preservation goals and the residential credentialling that family offices operating in Singapore need."
},
{
"persona": "Upgrader from luxury condo (D9/D10)",
"fit_color": "amber",
"reason": "The step from a S$5–10M condo to a S$25M+ GCB is more than financial; it is operational. White House Park suits an upgrader who has the liquidity and is ready for the maintenance, security, and garden management responsibilities of standalone landed living."
},
{
"persona": "Foreign professional or PR",
"fit_color": "red",
"reason": "Non-citizens cannot acquire GCB land in Singapore without LDAU approval (PRs) or at all (foreigners). Sentosa Cove restricted bungalows remain the only landed option for foreign buyers."
},
{
"persona": "Investor seeking rental yield",
"fit_color": "red",
"reason": "GCBs generate very low gross yields (typically 1–1.5% at current market values). White House Park is a capital-preservation and lifestyle asset, not an income instrument. See <a href=\"/insights/rental-yield\">rental yield benchmarks</a> for context."
},
{
"persona": "Family with school-age children at international schools",
"fit_color": "green",
"reason": "Proximity to the Bukit Timah education belt (Tanglin Trust, ISS, Singapore American School bus routes) plus Stevens MRT walkability makes this an exceptional family address for internationally-mobile households with Singapore-citizen parents."
}
]
White House Park is the rarest sub-category of Singapore real estate: a GCB area that was designed rather than accumulated. The 11 Bedmar-designed homes around the conserved Glencaird estate give the precinct an internal logic — architectural, spatial, historical — that older GCB rows assembled plot-by-plot over decades simply cannot replicate. Combined with its D10 location, dual MRT walkability, and URA conservation backstop, the area commands a premium not just over the broader landed market but over most other GCB pockets in Singapore.
For a Singapore-citizen buyer with a S$25–60 million budget and a long holding horizon (10+ years), White House Park competes directly with the Nassim cluster and the upper end of the Holland Park GCB area. The deciding variable is usually a personal one: Nassim Road buyers value the address prestige and larger land parcels; White House Park buyers tend to value the estate coherence and the slightly lower quantum entry point relative to Nassim’s record transactions. Neither is wrong. Compare area profiles at Nassim Road, Cluny Park, and Holland Park before forming a view. Use the landed prices map to triangulate psf benchmarks across D10’s GCB areas.
The suggested holding period for a White House Park GCB is a minimum of seven years, preferably ten or more. At these quantum levels, transaction costs (stamp duty, agent fees, legal) account for 4–6% of the deal value, meaning the property needs to appreciate by at least that much just to break even on costs. The strong structural case — scarcity, freehold tenure, conservation protection, and Singapore’s enduring status as the preeminent Asian wealth hub — supports patient capital. Consult the family office property strategy guide for a framework on structuring GCB ownership within a broader Singapore balance sheet.
Frequently asked questions
How many GCBs are in White House Park?
There are 11 original Good Class Bungalows in White House Park, all designed by architect Ernesto Bedmar and completed in 1999 by Wheelock Properties around the conserved Glencaird colonial mansion. This is one of the smallest gazetted GCB areas in Singapore by plot count, which directly underpins the area’s scarcity value (as of 2026-01).
What is the minimum plot size for a GCB in White House Park?
The Urban Redevelopment Authority mandates a minimum plot size of 1,400 sq m (approximately 15,070 sq ft) for all Good Class Bungalow Areas in Singapore, including White House Park. Plots of at least 2,800 sq m may be sub-divided into two GCB lots, subject to planning approval. The maximum building height is two storeys, and site coverage is capped at 40% of the land area.
Which MRT stations serve White House Park?
Stevens MRT (Downtown Line, DT10) is approximately a five-minute walk from White House Park via Stevens Road. Botanic Gardens MRT (Circle Line / Downtown Line interchange) is accessible in roughly six to eight minutes on foot. This dual-station walkability is unusual for a Singapore GCB area and is increasingly valued by residents with family members who do not always travel by private car.
Can foreigners or PRs buy a GCB in White House Park?
No. Under Singapore’s Residential Property Act, only Singapore citizens may acquire Good Class Bungalow land without restriction. Singapore Permanent Residents must apply to the Land Dealings Approval Unit (LDAU) for prior approval, and approval is not guaranteed. Foreign nationals (non-PRs) are not eligible to own GCB land in Singapore under any circumstances. This restriction is structural and has been in place since 1973.
What price per square foot (psf) do White House Park GCBs typically achieve?
Transacted psf values at White House Park have ranged from approximately S$1,686 psf (a 2021 transaction on a 15,125 sq ft plot at S$25.5 million) to S$3,017 psf (a more recent 2024 deal at S$45.5 million) based on publicly reported data. In April 2025, a detached house on White House Park transacted at S$2,636 psf (S$40 million on approximately 15,176 sq ft). Psf ranges vary widely based on plot size, building condition, and whether the land is developable. Use the landed prices map for broader D10 GCB comparables (as of 2025-10).
How does White House Park compare to Nassim Road as a GCB area?
Nassim Road is generally regarded as Singapore’s single most prestigious GCB address, with larger plot averages, higher absolute transaction values, and proximity to the Nassim Hill consulate belt. White House Park offers a tighter, more architecturally coherent cluster of homes at somewhat lower average quantum, with the advantage of superior MRT walkability. For buyers where land size and address prestige are paramount, Nassim leads; for buyers valuing architectural coherence and transit access, White House Park is a compelling peer. Read the Nassim Road GCB area profile for a side-by-side comparison.
What stamp duty does a citizen buyer pay on a S$40 million GCB purchase?
For a Singapore citizen buying their first residential property at S$40 million, Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) applies on a progressive scale: 1% on the first S$180,000, 2% on the next S$180,000, 3% on the next S$640,000, 4% on the next S$500,000, and 5% on the remainder up to S$1.5 million, with a 6% tier above. For a S$40 million purchase, the total BSD is approximately S$1.89 million. No ABSD applies for a citizen’s first residential property. Use the stamp duty calculator for an exact figure based on your specific purchase price and buyer profile (as of 2026-01, per IRAS rates).