This row of beautifully-restored shophouses was possibly built in the 1920s at the height of the Singapore's eclectic architecture era, which occurred at a time when commodities such as rubber and tin were fetching high prices fuelling the boom years of the decade.
This probably led to a building boom as the newly-rich competed to build houses that were more ornate, more richly-decorated than their neighbours. This row of beautiful shophouses with imported European and Japanese tiles of flower motifs in relief life-like plasters of birds, flowers and other motifs have since been immaculately restored and conserved. Notice the similarities between the plaster mouldings found here and the Balestier Road shophouses.
During the restoration, a lot of the facade tiles on the five foot ways were stolen, but fortunately, the developer was able to commission similar replacement tiles from Vietnam. He also kept many of the original old floor tiles, to retain the vintage look of the walkway.
This area is also known colloquially as Keen Chio Kar, meaning "the foot of the banana plantation" in English. This area has long been known to be a red-light district, even before World War II, and remains so today.