R Maison

Overview & Key Facts

R Maison occupies a quietly distinctive position on Sommerville Walk in District 13 — a freehold boutique of just 45 units developed by Global Star Development Pte. Ltd and designed by respected local practice Park + Associates Pte Ltd, whose portfolio spans thoughtfully resolved residential and institutional projects across Singapore. Completed in 2016, the five-storey development sits on a site of approximately 27,499 sqft, which is compact by Singapore standards but large enough to accommodate a meaningful facility deck and generous parking ratio of 47 lots for 45 units — an almost one-to-one correspondence that larger developments rarely achieve. The development is known in the market as the residential complement to E Maison, a neighbouring boutique by the same developer on the same street.

The unit configuration spans a deliberately broad spectrum: 1-bedroom units from 581 to 743 sqft (comprising the majority of the stack at 20 units), compact 2-bedrooms from 667 to 700 sqft, deluxe 3-bedrooms at 1,324 to 1,550 sqft, and a single 2,357 sqft 3-bedroom loft penthouse crowning the building. This range positions R Maison to appeal to distinct buyer profiles simultaneously — the investor targeting Woodleigh-corridor rental demand at the 1-bedroom end, and the owner-occupier seeking space and permanency in a freehold mid-rise at the 3-bedroom and penthouse end. The freehold title, in a corridor increasingly dominated by 99-year leasehold new launches, is the structural headline.

Transaction data over the past several years reflects a recovering PSF trajectory: from roughly S$1,365–1,388 psf in earlier years to a peak of around S$1,511 psf, settling at approximately S$1,388 psf most recently on the handful of recorded transactions. With only 9 total sales on record and an average transacted price near S$1.13 million, R Maison is a tightly held, low-turnover freehold asset in a neighbourhood undergoing meaningful infrastructure transformation — particularly around the Woodleigh MRT and The Woodleigh Residences integrated development.

Location & Connectivity

Sommerville Walk is a short cul-de-sac-style residential street in the Potong Pasir – Woodleigh corridor of District 13, bordered by low-rise terrace houses and greenery that give the immediate surroundings a quieter, more village-like character than the numbers might suggest. The closest MRT is Woodleigh (NE11, North-East Line) at 0.49 km — a 6–7 minute walk through low-traffic residential streets. Serangoon MRT (NE12/CC13), the interchange for the Circle Line, is 0.79 km or roughly 10 minutes on foot. For a boutique freehold condo, this is genuinely competitive MRT access; most comparable-vintage boutiques in the OCR sit 12–15 minutes from the nearest station.

The Woodleigh corridor has undergone a meaningful transformation in recent years, anchored by The Woodleigh Residences — an integrated development directly above Woodleigh MRT that includes a mall, community club, and over 700 residential units. For R Maison residents, this infrastructure event has functionally enriched the neighbourhood’s daily-amenity offering: the Woodleigh Village retail cluster is a 6–7 minute walk, adding FairPrice, food and beverage, and services that simply did not exist at the doorstep before 2022. For drivers, the development is within easy reach of the Central Expressway (CTE) via Upper Serangoon Road, and the Pan-Island Expressway via Bartley Road — both arterials connecting efficiently to the CBD (approximately 15 minutes off-peak) and Changi Airport.

Daily amenities extend to NEX Shopping Mall at Serangoon (one stop on the NEL, or a 10-minute walk), which anchors a dense retail and hawker cluster including the Serangoon Gardens Market & Food Centre, Cold Storage, and multiple hawker options. Bidadari Park — the Bishan-adjacent green corridor redevelopment that forms the heart of the Bidadari estate masterplan — is within easy cycling or walking distance northward, offering a lakeside park connector, heritage trees, and cycling paths that residents of older estates on this corridor now benefit from.

Schools & Education

Facilities

For a 45-unit boutique development on a 27,499 sqft site, R Maison delivers a facility deck that punches above its scale. The development includes a swimming pool with a dedicated children’s pool, a rooftop jacuzzi, gymnasium, themed garden, sun deck, yoga area, BBQ pits, and a playground. The 47-lot car park (including 1 handicapped space) means every household effectively has a reserved lot — a genuine rarity in Singapore condo ownership, where larger developments routinely see residents competing for a fractional lot allocation. Twenty-four-hour security with covered parking rounds out the service provision.

“The pool is almost never crowded — that’s the single best thing about a 45-unit condo. You’re never queuing for a lane or waiting for a sun lounger. It feels like a private pool most of the time.”

— Resident review via 99.co

The trade-off of boutique scale is that there is no tennis court, function room, or concierge — the facility list covers essentials and leisure but does not attempt the resort-style megalist of 500-unit+ developments. Maintenance fees at boutique condos also tend to run higher on a per-unit basis given fixed overhead spreading across fewer households; buyers should budget accordingly. That said, for residents who want privacy, a consistently uncrowded pool, and a guaranteed parking lot, the boutique proposition trades well against facility-rich but anonymity-heavy larger peers.

Unit Sizes & Layout

R Maison’s 13 distinct floor plan configurations span a wider size spectrum than most boutiques of its vintage. The dominant stack is the 1-bedroom tier (20 of 45 units), ranging from 581 sqft to 743 sqft — at the upper end, these compete credibly with the 2-bedroom offering of some newer developments. The compact 2-bedroom units (667–700 sqft) are notably efficient, suited to couples or small families optimising for freehold tenure over square footage. The 3-bedroom deluxe units at 1,324–1,550 sqft are the development’s family flagship, and the single 3-bedroom loft penthouse at 2,357 sqft sits in a category of its own — a double-volume entertainer’s unit with rooftop access that rarely transacts.

Architect Park + Associates’ involvement suggests a considered layout approach: efficient corridors, maximised natural light for a five-storey building, and articulated facades that avoid the flat-box aesthetic of cost-minimised boutiques. The surrounding low-rise terrace houses on Sommerville Walk mean upper floors have relatively unobstructed sightlines, particularly from the rear of the building. One practical note: the 1-bedroom units at the smaller end of the range (581–620 sqft) are appropriate for investors and singles but will feel constrained for couples working from home — buyers in that profile should target the 700–743 sqft 1-bedroom variants or step up to the compact 2-bedroom configuration.

Pricing & Market Position

Based on 9 recorded transactions, sale prices range from $818,000 to $2,320,000, averaging $1,128,000.

Rents range from $1,900 to $7,900 per month across 59 rental transactions. Current rental yield sits at approximately 4.3%.

Price Appreciation

From 2021 to 2024, the average PSF has appreciated by 1.7% (from $1,365 to $1,388 psf).

Neighbourhood Comparison

The competitive landscape in R Maison’s immediate catchment is dominated by significantly larger and newer 99-year leasehold developments. The Woodleigh Residences (S$2,225 psf, 99-year lease) offers a fully integrated mall-above-MRT lifestyle proposition — 667 units with direct Woodleigh MRT access and a complete retail podium. The PSF premium versus R Maison (~S$840 psf) reflects this: buyers paying for The Woodleigh Residences are essentially paying for the integrated convenience and the brand-new build quality, accepting a 99-year lease that has begun depreciating. Park Colonial (S$2,141 psf, 99-year) and The Poiz Residences (S$1,863 psf, 99-year) are two-stop NEL connectivity away, near Potong Pasir, with larger facility offerings but the same leasehold constraint. The Tre Ver along the Kallang River (S$1,918 psf, 99-year) is another step further, near Potong Pasir MRT, with strong waterfront branding.

Against these peers, R Maison’s proposition is philosophical rather than comparable on a feature-by-feature basis. At approximately S$1,388 psf freehold, it acquires Singapore land title in perpetuity — structurally ahead of any 99-year leasehold at the same quantum in a 20-year holding horizon. The trade-off is smaller absolute unit sizes at the 1-bedroom level, no integrated retail, lower liquidity, and higher per-unit maintenance. Buyers prioritising freehold permanency and boutique privacy over amenity breadth and exit flexibility should find R Maison’s positioning compelling; those who need liquidity, want resort-scale facilities, or are targeting shorter holding periods are better served by the leasehold new launches at higher PSF.

ShiokNest Scores

Our proprietary scoring system evaluates R MAISON across multiple dimensions.

What Residents Say

“The location is lovely — it is sheltered all the way to the MRT and convenient to travel to my workplace. The surrounding area is very quiet with low terrace houses around. Breezy, peaceful, and there are nature walks just opposite. Not many units means the pool is never crowded.”

— Resident review via 99.co

“Freehold in D13 at this price point was the reason we bought. The Woodleigh MRT is close enough for daily use and the NEX mall at Serangoon means we don’t feel isolated. It’s a small development but that’s part of the appeal — you actually know your neighbours here.”

— Resident review via PropertyGuru

“Maintenance fees are on the higher side for the size of the unit — that’s the reality of a boutique development sharing fixed costs across 45 units. But the guaranteed parking lot and the privacy of the pool more than compensate for me. I’d rather pay slightly more per month and never fight for a parking space.”

— Resident review via Singapore Expats Directory

The recurring sentiment across resident feedback reflects the boutique-freehold archetype: privacy, guaranteed parking, an uncrowded pool, and the quiet village-like character of Sommerville Walk are consistently cited as differentiating positives. The main friction point is maintenance cost relative to unit size — a structural reality of boutique development economics that buyers should underwrite explicitly. The neighbourhood’s transformation since The Woodleigh Residences opened has upgraded the food, retail, and park amenity envelope, and longer-tenured residents note the tangible improvement.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Verdict

R Maison is a niche proposition that rewards buyers who value freehold tenure, boutique privacy, and improving neighbourhood fundamentals over the amenity breadth and liquidity of larger developments. The 0.49 km walk to Woodleigh MRT is its most commercially important attribute — in a corridor where freehold supply is structurally limited and the surrounding Bidadari estate has shifted the neighbourhood from a quiet backwater to a planned urban precinct, the hold case is credible. The 4.29% gross yield is the headline for investors: it sits comfortably above typical D13 freehold condo yields and reflects the Woodleigh corridor’s strong rental demand, driven in part by proximity to the Stamford American International School (0.67 km) and expatriate-heavy corporate clusters.

The weaknesses are structural rather than cosmetic. With only 9 total sales on record across the development’s lifetime, liquidity is genuinely low — buyers should not expect to exit quickly or at a precise valuation. The thinly traded market means individual transactions can swing PSF meaningfully (the $1,365–$1,511 range reflects this). The investment score of 53/100 and en-bloc score of 34/100 reflect these constraints: the site is too small (45 units, ~27,499 sqft) to generate meaningful en-bloc economics, and the ShiokNest composite score of 38/100 correctly identifies this as a hold-for-yield or hold-for-legacy play rather than a momentum capital gains vehicle. Comparable-sized boutiques like The Tre Ver (S$1,918 psf, 99-year leasehold) and Park Colonial (S$2,141 psf, 99-year leasehold) command significantly higher PSF but carry the structural drag of depreciating leases — R Maison’s ~S$1,388 psf freehold acquires a fundamentally different long-term asset.

For the specific buyer — an investor seeking Woodleigh-corridor yield without leasehold decay, or an owner-occupier prioritising freehold permanency, a private pool, and near-guaranteed parking in a walkable NEL node — R Maison earns its place. The holding thesis is a 10-year minimum horizon, ideally anchored by rental income that sustains the carry while the Bidadari and Woodleigh precincts continue to mature. Those seeking higher liquidity, modern amenity, or a shorter entry commitment are better served by the larger leasehold peers.