Caldwell House, Singapore
| Caldwell House | |
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Caldwell House at CHIJMES
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 Location in Singapore
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| Alternative names | Alcove at Caldwell House |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Mansion |
| Architectural style | neoclassical |
| Classification | A |
| Location | CHIJMES Singapore |
| Address | 30 Victoria Street, Singapore 187996 |
| Country | Singapore |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 1°17′44.0″N 103°51′07.2″E / 1.295556°N 103.852000°E |
| Named for | H.C. Caldwell |
| Construction started | 1840 |
| Estimated completion | 1841 |
| Renovated | 1991–1996 |
| Client | Watabe Singapore Pte Ltd |
| Owner | Perennial Real Estate Holdings Limited Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (former) H.C. Caldwell (former) |
| Landlord |
Urban Redevelopment Authority Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (former) |
| Affiliation | CHIJMES |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | George Drumgoole Coleman |
| Designations | 26 October 1990 |
| Website | |
| chijmes |
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| Designated | 26 October 1990 |
Caldwell House (Chinese: 古德威尔屋) was a historical building designed and built by George Drumgoole Coleman from 1840 to 1841 in Singapore. It was the oldest building of the CHIJMES complex since 1854. It currently serves as a venue known as the Alcove at Caldwell House for wedding functions.
The house was one of the architecture designs of the Irish civil architect George Drumgoole Coleman in Singapore, it was built from 1840 to 1841 for H. C. Caldwell, a senior clerk to the Magistrates in Singapore. In August 1852, Father Jean-Marie Beurel purchased the house for the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus on his own expense of 4,000 francs and the house was since known as the Caldwell House.
In 5 February 1854, the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus Reverend Mother Mathilde Raclot and her three companions, Mother Appollinaire, Mother Gaetan Gervais and Sister Gregory Connolly, made the house their residence soon after they reaching Singapore from Penang, which formed the beginnings of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Singapore. Two weeks after their arrival, the sisters would commenced lessons for two classes of students despite the initial austere living conditions. One for fee-paying students and another for orphans and the poor. The house was also used as the nuns’ workroom where the nuns would did their sewing, reading and writing in the semi-circular upstairs room. The school would later referred colloquially as the “Town Convent”, soon expanded and became known for providing education of a good standard.
On 1855, the Convent acquired the house adjacent to the Caldwell House as a Convent Orphanage known as Home for Abandoned Babies for children who were unwanted, came from poor or broken homes, or abandoned due to superstitious beliefs. The First Chapel of the Convent was built and consecrated in 1855. Over the years, the Convent had steadily acquired adjacent plots of land that would became part of the growing school and complex. The Convent also bought land that belonged to Raffles Institution in 1860. Father Jean-Marie Beurel had since acquired all the nine lots of land that would constitute the entire Convent complex and presented them to Reverend Mother Mathilde. In 1892, a boarding house was built on the Stamford Road side of the complex with contributions from the government and wealthy benefactors.
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