Geometric tactility: inside Steven Tan’s artful home

Upon entering the multi-level home, one immediately notices the stone floors, a stunning grey Breccia marble in a subtle leather finish. This shade of grey matches the fur of his rare poodles perfectly. There is a great sense of order in the open-plan layout, where every space is utilised with meticulous care. When building their home, the couple engaged an architectural firm to, as Tan notes, “flesh out our vision for the structure and continued to work closely with our suppliers and contractors to execute the design of the interiors”. Everything was carefully selected, and every detail was thoughtfully decided upon. It is a live space where everything is strategically laid out.

When asked about the process of building and decorating their home, Tan narrates, “To be honest, it was very challenging for us to get everything together. But it started to get better once we saw everything slowly coming into place.” Communication was key in realising the home where constant “dialogue with each other helped us to affirm what we really wanted in terms of style”, he adds. They approached the project using photos and notes of their travels over the past decade, collating and streamlining their reference points.

Tan also shares that they spent a month “discussing and writing down our daily habits, to ensure the flow of the home is according to how we live”. Quong is the proprietor of floral boutique Florian Studio; like Tan, he is creatively inclined, contributing to the collaborativeness of the process when it came to the decor. Tan describes how they would “sit down and discuss why we want a piece to be in a specific location. We both have to agree. It took us some time to get everything we have been collecting together over the years. And I don’t think we will ever finish. It is a lifelong activity, and travelling definitely plays a role”. Locally, he turns to Studio Dimensione as one of his favourite places to select pieces for his home. The couple are soft-spoken and gentle, and this considerate nature permeates in every inch of their home.

As part of 2022 Tatler’s Asia’s Most Stylish, Tan is admittedly “an avowed fashion enthusiast drawn to clean lines, colour plays and luxe fabrics. The finer details”. This eye for detail and material translates in his home design, as he considers “fashion and living as two harmonious concepts, to which I like to inject an element of the unpredictable”.

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For the front entry, the couple positioned a handmade oak console from Portugal. It is lacquered in British racing green with organically shaped hand-polished brass pulls. On top of the console are books gifted by friends as well as fresh flowers. Hanging above the table is an RM de Leon artwork gifted by SM’s Hans Sy.

A melange of brutalist and mid-century pieces fills the neutral-toned living room, resulting in a serene environment. A custom-built sofa in a light wheat hue anchors the room. This is flanked by original chairs, notably, a tan Arne Jacobsen Egg armchair and a Warren Platner for Knoll. Both pieces have a lovely patina, as original pieces often bear the marks of time.

During our visit to his home, Tan often refers to his travels and its effect on his living room was evident. He notes, “The cowhide and zebra rugs were from a trip to Africa years back.” As the designs of the furniture lean towards the voluminous, they are balanced with a trio of sleek pendant disc lamps, the Lumina Dot by Foster and Partners, in aluminium lacquered in matt white and black.

Like the rest of the home, the living room is a testament to the couple’s global influences, as when asked where one of the vases is from, Tan casually smiles and laughs, “Georgia, the country in Eastern Europe”. The clarification is valid as many might fairly assume that it is from the American state versus a former Soviet republic.

The dining space opens up to a double-height ceiling, on which the couple installed a customisable chandelier in metal and fluted glass, which reminds them of iconic Seventies-era fluted Italian glass fixtures. Tan notes, “We laid it out ourselves to look like the northern lights that we saw during a vacation years back.” It is matched with a rectangular Augusta dining table from Bo Concept. A ceramic tabletop in charcoal marble colour and steel lacquered in matt black, its thin profile is coupled with Fritz Hansen Series 7 chairs in forest green velvet. When not used for entertaining, the table is topped with flowers Quong and his team at Florian Studio arrange, housed in vases collected from all over the world.

The kitchen nods to the Seventies in its richly panelled wood, but given a modern take by swapping warm tones with cool browns, in a matt finish. The bespoke kitchen was crafted by Valcucine from their Forma Mentis line, in contrasting walnut brown panels and angel skin white cabinet doors and honed Carrara marble counters

On the bookshelves are a collection of cookbooks that delightfully hints at the couple’s passion for food. There are beautiful tulips on the kitchen counter and hovering above is an adjustable pendant lighting fixture by Occhio Mito Sospeso in phantom finish.

As to the adjacent powder room, Tan says, “We intentionally turned it up to provide a little surprise in a small space,” he explains. “We did this by using Arabescato marble for the flooring and Ice Jade marble for the sink wall.” The rest of the walls are coated with Venetian Marmorino plaster. A Victorian-style basin adds charm and its brass legs are tonally echoed as the couple “placed an antique mirror we found in a flea market in Paris”.

Of particular interest are the windows, done in a Crittal-style, enabling light to naturally filter through beautifully symmetrical lines.

The stairs are finished in solid Russian Oak and glass. The landing of the lower ground entry is accented by a handmade terracotta candelabra glazed in cobalt blue “from a gallery we visited in Merida, Mexico”, Tan narrates. He continues, “We placed a Sixties vintage retrofuture steel pendant lamp that we thrifted from a market in Palermo, Italy.”

There is a sophisticated wildness to the garden, done in a New Perennialist style. He emphasises that this was finished “with a firm focus on endemic plants and trees, using a naturalist form and structure in grouping and positioning the plants and trees”. All of this is set against a backdrop of Turkish limestone, whilst the flooring is Ceppo Italian marble cut from a single slab.

On the rooftop is a lanai where the striking chequered floor is of Renor Marquila marble and limestone. Draceana plants were installed as a screen to provide privacy. It overlooks a beautiful view of their area, surrounded by green fields.

Tan’s home is a testament to his welltravelled, well-lived life. “If you find something you love, take it with you,” he laughs. A living breathing environment, it is a continuously evolving space.

The couple’s home is an architecture of ongoing reinvention, where form and function happily intersect. By nature, some men are either of style or substance. Tan and his partner Quong are both.

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