Tyersall and Woodneuk land - US$3.5 billion?

#thelostistanas

The Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, is the registered owner of the 210,875-square-metre plot next to the Botanic Gardens. “Owning a piece of land in Singapore is certainly a privilege as land is the most precious resource in the city state,”

In Singapore, there are historically significant buildings that lie abandoned and shrouded in mystery. Most of these can be traced back many decades but their storied history is lost among the general public. Some of the more intriguing ones reach as far back as the 1800s. Abandoned houses barely turn any heads these days but once, they stood as proud and extravagant palaces where old Asian royalty and the European ruling class mingled at the dawn of a New World. One such palace was the Tyersall House. In around 1823, William Napier, who was the first lawyer of Singapore and one of the co-founders of the Singapore Free Press, built the Tyersall House on a 60-acre plot of land beside the Botanic Gardens. Napier was a decorated figure and even served as advisor to Abu Bakar who was commonly known as the ‘Father of Modern Johor’. Napier’s many accomplishments and contributions saw Napier Road named after him while Tyersall Road was named after his mansion. He eventually sold the land and the house to Abu Bakar sometime in the 1860s. After assuming the role of Temenggong from his father, Abu Bakar wanted to maintain a presence in Singapore and used the Tyersall House as a means of achieving that. Istana Tyersall was one of the first buildings in Singapore to be powered by electricity.

"Sultan Abu Bakar: Game changer ahead of his time" - Khoo Kay Kim

The only existing legacy of Sultan Abu Bakar in Singapore was the nearby Istana Woodneuk or Woodneuk House. It is commonly mistaken for Istana Tyersall as both palaces exist on the same estate and were associated with Sultan Abu Bakar. Istana Woodneuk was built for one of the Sultan’s other wives, Sultanah Khadijah. In his will, the Sultan had given her complete ownership of the house, its material possessions and the ground it sits upon. Istana Wooden York, locally known as Istana Woodneuk, is an abandoned two-storey palace – now hidden by dense vegetation – in Tyersall Park near the Singapore Botanic.

The Sultanah had sold the property eventually to Sultan Abu Bakar’s son, Ibrahim Iskander before she passed away in 1904. Sultan Ibrahim went on to rebuild the house in 1930 for his third wife, the Scotland-born Sultanah Helen Ibrahim. Istana Woodneuk is most known for its iconic blue tiled roof, differing from Istana Tyersall. It also stood on the top of a hill within range of an expansive garden. The ruins of the Istana as well as the land still belong to the royal family of Johor. Yet, no preservation efforts were made.

Source:
https://www.goodclassbungalows.com.sg/
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/...