Cover Tan leather armchairs and a white sectional sofa furnish the living room's central seating area, part of the ground floor that opens toward the garden and lotus lake, with the fluted timber bar visible behind
Tan leather armchairs and a white sectional sofa furnish the living room's central seating area, part of the ground floor that opens toward the garden and lotus lake, with the fluted timber bar visible behind
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This hilltop home in The Mines by Prototype Design unfolds across three storeys around a swimming pool, a wellness floor and a rooftop terrace overlooking a lotus lake
It started with a site and a lotus lake. At The Mines, on a hill above a golf course and the lake it borders, Terry Law and Michelle Tan spent four years building a family home from scratch, working with Toh Koon Theng of Prototype Design on interiors shaped around the calm the plot already had.
The couple live in the roughly 10,000-square-foot house with their three children, on land that was completely flat before construction began. Toh said the site’s form gave the design little to work with, but it was the atmosphere that mattered. “It was a peaceful plot with plenty of greenery, and that sense of quiet became an important part of the design,” he said.
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Above The view from the house takes in The Mines Golf Course and the lotus lake it borders, the greenery that first drew the designer to the site
The view from the house takes in The Mines Golf Course and the lotus lake it borders, the greenery that first drew the designer to the site
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A brass Sputnik chandelier hangs above the foyer, with a vintage sideboard and the round mirror visible on either side of the corridor beyond
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The organising idea, Toh said, came down to a single image: still water and a lotus in bloom. “We wanted the house to feel calm and understated, but with moments of richness and surprise,” he said. He gave each room its own character while keeping the whole legible as a single home. Holding that balance was one of the project’s central challenges. “We had to be careful with materials, colours and furniture to make sure everything still belonged to the same house,” he said.
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A brass horse figurine and abstract artwork furnish the main living area, with the staircase and entrance hall visible beyond
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The ground floor is built for family life and entertaining, with open living and dining areas, a piano lounge, a bar, a wine cabinet, a kitchen and a media room. Law gravitates to this level, Toh said, drawn to its openness and the ability to keep watch over his children while hosting guests. The first floor holds five ensuite bedrooms, each treated individually. The top floor turns toward wellness: a home office, a gym, a massage room, a steam room, a sauna and an infrared sauna, connected by timber panelling and timber flooring laid in a chevron pattern. With young children in the house, the team paid close attention to rounded edges and safer detailing throughout, Toh said.
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The ground floor’s piano lounge sits adjacent to the bar and wine cabinet, within view of the main living area
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Above The dining space opens onto the marble staircase, with the home’s lift visible beyond
Above A brass mesh chandelier hangs above a seating area with red leather-and-chrome chairs, set beside the grand piano
The dining space opens onto the marble staircase, with the home’s lift visible beyond
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“The house also becomes quieter and more private as you move upwards, ending with the wellness floor and rooftop retreat,” Toh said. The rooftop terrace, overlooking the golf course and the lotus lake, is where his own attention keeps returning. An olive tree grows there, a counterpart to another at ground level, chosen as a symbol of longevity and inspired by a tree Terry and Michelle had seen in France. “The view, the olive tree and the lotus lake make it feel very removed from the city,” Toh said.
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Marble countertops and a matching hood run along one wall of the kitchen, with a glass-fronted display cabinet opposite
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Materials favour wood, leather, marble and natural textiles such as linen, chosen for warmth within a contemporary frame. Green recurs throughout the house, appearing in the dining chairs, the bedside lamps, the home office and a powder room finished in green marble. “It isn’t immediately obvious, but you start noticing it as you move from room to room,” Toh said.
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The covered dining terrace looks out over the garden, olive tree and swimming pool below
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The furnishings mix collectable design with pieces that carry personal meaning. There are Hermès objects, a Murakami x Doraemon print, an Eames lounge chair, a Herman Miller chair, Isamu Noguchi lighting, Technogym equipment and a Devialet sound system, alongside Tan’s growing collection of equestrian artworks and figurines and a wine cabinet that reflects Law’s own collecting. Toh named two details he is proudest of: the marble pattern at the entrance lobby, which required a master craftsman’s precision, and the timber flooring pattern used throughout the house.
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Above An Eames lounge chair and ottoman sit on a circular patterned rug, lit by a curved paper floor lamp against timber panelling
Above The wine collection is arranged on lit shelving above a marble-topped bar counter with a built-in sink
An Eames lounge chair and ottoman sit on a circular patterned rug, lit by a curved paper floor lamp against timber panelling
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Burnt-orange and grey seating flank a black-and-white geometric rug, with backlit shelving displaying ceramics and sculpture behind
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Behind the lift shaft wall is a floral mural by the local artist known as Uncle Black, visible only to those who know to look. "It’s a small surprise that most guests don’t notice until someone points it out,” Toh said, adding that it still catches the family’s own visitors off guard.
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Above Backlit display shelving holds a collection of ceramics and vases behind the dining table, framed by sheer curtains
Backlit display shelving holds a collection of ceramics and vases behind the dining table, framed by sheer curtains
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Above A pair of armchairs and a black stone-based coffee table sit before built-in shelving in the media room
Above The top-floor gym is fitted with Technogym equipment and floor-to-ceiling glazing overlooking the garden and rooftop terrace
A pair of armchairs and a black stone-based coffee table sit before built-in shelving in the media room
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Sustainability was not the project’s central brief, Toh said, but it stayed in view throughout. Natural light, generous openings and landscaping drew the outdoors into the living spaces, letting the greenery surrounding the original site carry through into the finished home.
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One of the home’s five ensuite bedrooms, furnished with chevron parquet flooring and a pair of pendant lights flanking the bed
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The hardest part of a project this size, Toh said, was logistics: coordinating the many craftsmen whose trades intersected across the house, especially on the wellness floor, where a gym, thermal suite, massage room and sound system all had to be integrated. “That was also what made the project rewarding,” he said, “seeing all these different skills eventually come together as one home.”
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Photography: David Yeow
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
