BOAT LIFE The Hamptons has its waterfront cottages, Venice its historic palazzi and Manhattan its brownstones. In Singapore, the most aspirational luxury properties are the more prosaically named Good Class Bungalows (GCBs).
By global prime property standards, they're not particularly large or especially fancy. But GCBs change hands for tens of millions of pounds, can rent for close to US$900,000 peryear (£743,000), and are defying global economic headwinds by increasing in value. “GCBs are the pinnacle of the Singapore property market,” says Nicholas Keong, head of private office at Knight Frank Singapore. “They're aspirational, multi-generational homes.”
What sets Singapore's GCBs apart is sheer exclusivity. There are only around 2,800 of them, mostly built during the first half of the last century for high-ranking colonial officers and, later, rich local merchants.…
