Residency House
| Raffles House | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Classification | A |
| Location | Fort Canning Hill |
| Address | Raffles Terrace |
| Town or city | Singapore |
| Country | Singapore |
| Coordinates | 1°17′31.0″N 103°50′50.5″E / 1.291944°N 103.847361°ECoordinates: 1°17′31.0″N 103°50′50.5″E / 1.291944°N 103.847361°E |
| Named for | Stamford Raffles |
| Client | Host |
| Owner | National Parks Board |
| Landlord | National Parks Board |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 1 |
| Floor area | 101.25 sqm |
| Known for | Replica house of Stamford Raffles |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 1 |
| Parking | nearest to Registry of Marriages |
| Website | |
| 1-host |
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| Government House | |
|---|---|
Fort Canning Hill (1860 – 1900), where the Government House was once stood on.
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| Former names | Residency House |
| General information | |
| Status | Demolished |
| Type | bungalow |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Classification | B |
| Location | Government Hill Singapore |
| Address | Government Hill Singapore |
| Town or city | Singapore |
| Country | Singapore |
| Construction started | November 1822 |
| Completed | January 1823 |
| Opened | January 1823 |
| Renovated | 1823 |
| Demolished | 1859 |
| Cost | $916 |
| Owner | Stamford Raffles (former) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 1 |
| Floor area | 100 ft long, 50 ft wide |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | George Drumgoole Coleman |
| Known for | Residence for Stamford Raffles, Residents and Governors of Singapore |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | George Drumgoole Coleman |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 2 |
Raffles House is a single-storey building built on the Fort Canning Hill, Singapore. It is a replica house of the former residence of Sir Stamford Raffles which was once built on the same site in 1822.
Residency House, the original residence of Sir Stamford Raffles and his sister’s family, was a wooden house with venetians and thatched attap roof, the house was the earliest Singapore's project of George Drumgoole Coleman. Coleman, who waited for Raffles to return from Bencoolen, Sumatra for four months, in the meantime designed the House in speculation for Raffles' residence use.
Raffles, upon his return from Bencoolen, Sumatra on October 1822, impressed with Coleman's design, approved the house. Construction of the house was soon begun on Singapore Hill in November 1822 and completed by January 1823. Raffles and his wife Sophie would moved to the house by early January 1823.
On 21 January 1823, Raffles wrote to William Marsden about the house and its scenery.
“We have lately built a small bungalow on Singapore Hill where though the height is inconsiderable, we find great difference in climate. Nothing can be more interesting and beautiful than the view from this spot. I am happy to say the change has had a very beneficial effect on my health, which has been better during the last fortnight than I have known it for two years before. The tombs of the Malay Kings are close at hand, and I have settled that if it is my fate to die here I shall take my place amongst them; this will at any rate be better than leaving my bones at Bencoolen. If it pleases God, we still live in the hope of embarking for Europe towards the end of the year.‟ “I am laying out a botanic and experimental garden, and it would delight you to see how rapidly the whole country is coming under cultivation. My residence here has naturally given much confidence, and the extent of the speculations entered into by the Chinese quite astonished me.‟
On 23 January 1823, Raffles wrote to the Duchess of Somerset about the house and the hill.
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Wikipedia