Take a stroll up the hill along Old Nelson Road to the only national monument in Sembawang and Yishun, the Old Admiralty House. Did you know that this stately house was renamed several times throughout its existence? When it was built in 1939 by His Majesty’s Navy Works Department of the British Royal Navy, it was called Canberra House. The Singapore Naval Base extended from here to Sembawang’s coast, and this house served as the accommodation for the Commodore Superintendent of the Royal Navy Dockyard.
Before Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1942, Canberra House was the strategic planning headquarters of the British armed forces. After the war, it was renamed Nelson House, possibly after H.M.S. Nelson, a British battleship which arrived in Singapore in 1945 during the surrender of the Japanese forces.
In 1958, the house was again renamed, this time as Admiralty House. It served as the residence for the Commander of the Far East Fleet till the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore in 1971.
Upon the withdrawal, ANZUK, a tripartite force by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, was formed to defend the Asia Pacific region as part of the Five Power Defence Arrangement. From 1971 to 1974, Admiralty House became known as ANZUK House as it was occupied by the tripartite military forces, which disbanded in 1974.
1974 also marked the house’s departure from its military past. The Sembawang Shipyard took over the house in that year and turned it into a recreational club. From 1991 onwards, it was managed by a number of operators as a country club. As of 2010, the house is under the management of Admiral Hill Country Club.
The house was gazetted as a national monument in 2002 and renamed Old Admiralty House, the name it is known by today. Designed in the architectural style of the Arts and Crafts movement, popular in the late 19th century, the house resembles a traditional English cottage. As the layout is asymmetrical, visitors have to change directions several times in order to find the main rooms.