End of an Era

MELISSA MONTGOMERY lives in one of the last remaining original houses in One Tree Hill, with husband Scotty and their three children, Carter and Cleo (8), and Matilda (6).

What brought you to Singapore?

My Kiwi boyfriend was living here in 2014 and I was commuting from Perth where we originally met. Twelve months later, we surprised ourselves and found we were expecting twins, so I relocated to Singapore in 2015 and we were married by the Swan Lake in the Botanic Gardens. We celebrated with a big party with our friends from around the globe in Bali.

We now have three gorgeous children who’ve had a wonderful opportunity growing up here in the tropics, and we’ve been so lucky to make lifelong expat friends in Singapore.

Where did you first live when you came?

Scotty had a bachelor pad above a mall in Novena, which he loved. When I moved up, we found a gorgeous boutique apartment in Robertson Quay, called Robertson Blue, which worked out quite well pushing a double buggy up and down the river. It was easy and peaceful, with lots of cafés to meet up with other mamas – and sometimes up to 15 prams parked up at the one place!

You then moved here, to One Tree Hill - tell us about this house.

It’s an original semi-detached, built around the 1970s, I would guess. We have eight different types of green vintage tiles throughout! The house was mid-reno when we negotiated our lease. It was very basic and I must admit I couldn’t imagine the potential, but lucky my husband could and we were able to turn it into a home.

There was only dead grass when we moved in, so we were so grateful to inherit three lorry trucks of plants from a deceased estate. Before we knew it, the garden was thriving with all the rain in Singapore.

Gardens really do make a home. We’ve planted eight coconuts over the years and three of the coconut palms are now over six metres tall.

What have been your best furniture or home décor buys?