Come in, sit down, stay awhile: inside Caroline Lim’s art-filled second home with architect Edmund Ng and V-ZUG

The first time round, Ng was reshaping an existing house. This time, he and Lim started with carte blanche. “The previous project worked within an existing home,” Lim recalls. “This time, we started with a blank sheet of paper. What has remained constant is my complete trust in Edmund’s understanding of space and flow.”

“He has a remarkable ability to understand how people actually live in a home,” she adds. “The brief was never about creating a show house. It was about creating a home that could comfortably accommodate family gatherings, themed celebrations, grandchildren, friends dropping by unexpectedly, art collected over decades, and all the wonderful chaos that comes with a well-lived life.”

One detail made the journey from the old house to the new. Decades earlier, on work trips to San Francisco, Lim had admired homes with sweeping picture windows over the water, and told herself that one day, she would have one of her own.

Long before she did, she bought a sculpture of a white horse and its sailor by Chinese artist Yu Fan, certain it belonged inside such a frame. Both dream and sculpture found their first home with Ng 11 years ago, then travelled with the couple to Sunset Vale. “The horse waited patiently for its window,” Lim says, “and perhaps I did too.”

Around 90 per cent of the art in Sunset Vale came from the couple’s first home. The collection, Lim says, evolved organically over more than thirty-five years, rather than being assembled to suit any one house. “I have never bought art as an investment,” she says. “I buy pieces because they make me smile, make me think, make me curious, or simply bring me joy.”

Every piece comes with its own story. There’s Jiao Xingtao’s giant crumpled sculpture of a stick of Wrigley’s chewing gum, which Lim calls “my playful tribute to Singapore,” since chewing gum is famously restricted here. “I thought it would be amusing to own one that nobody can chew, stick under a table or leave on a train.”

Nearby, in the breakfast area, sits the same artist’s wrapped bust of Mao Zedong, often mistaken by visitors for an unopened delivery until they look twice. And on every floor beside the lift, a set of whimsical Barbie Legs sculptures by Dutch artist Nicolette Benard greets guests. “If you don’t want to use your legs, use the lift,” Lim likes to joke.

Even the home’s much-discussed two dining tables came about almost by accident: Lim swapped a planned dry kitchen for a run of Lago shelving she had long wanted, splitting the dining area in two. It works well for entertaining, one table for the buffet, the other for conversation, and reflects how Lim lives: with unplanned delight, welcoming in her nearest and dearest.

Ask Lim what matters just as much as the art, though, and she doesn’t hesitate: the V-ZUG appliances she insisted on bringing with her.

When Sunset Vale was being planned, Lim  and her husband had already started shopping for V-ZUG appliances while waiting for the new home’s completion. Much like her artwork collection, these new and existing appliances were then carried straight into Sunset Vale's kitchen once construction was complete.

"The fact that Caroline chose to bring her existing appliances into this new home speaks volumes about V-ZUG's timeless design, reliability, and lasting quality," says Ng.

The result is a kitchen built to be closed off for serious cooking, yet stay connected to the rest of the home, functional and elegant, in Ng’s words, whether it’s Lim’s family at the counter or a private chef at work for one of her parties. “The kitchen was designed to support that lifestyle,” he explains. “We wanted it to perform exceptionally well, whether it was being used by the family or by a private chef, while remaining calm, understated and beautifully integrated into the home.”

Lim, characteristically, is self-deprecating about it. “I always laugh when people ask me about the kitchen, because I’m certainly not known for my cooking,” she says. “But what drew me to V-ZUG was its design; the clean black finish blends in so beautifully. To me, good design isn’t just about how something looks, but how effortlessly it becomes part of everyday life.”

It’s a line that could describe Sunset Vale entire: a home built, layer by layer and story by story, around the people who fill it. “Come in. Sit down. Stay awhile,” Lim says, imagining what the house might say if it could speak. “Art fills the walls,” she adds, “but people fill the home.”

For Ng, that’s the real measure of success. “A truly successful home isn’t simply beautiful; it evolves with the people who live in it, year after year,” he says. “My hope is that this home will continue to feel effortless, welcoming, and deeply loved.”

For those inspired to see V-ZUG’s Swiss-made craftsmanship up close, the brand offers a complimentary product experience consultation, where visitors can explore its kitchen appliances firsthand and get personalised advice for their own homes.

Appointments can be arranged directly with V-ZUG at V-ZUG Ion showroom at #02-07B ION Orchard, tel: 6926 0878.

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