Inside Emerald Hill, the neighbourhood at the heart of ‘The Little Nyonya’ spinoff

A Peranakan enclave

Long before its pastel facades charmed photographers and period drama fans, Emerald Hill was a very different place.

Owned by Singapore’s then-acting Postmaster General William Cuppage in 1837, the neighbourhood began as a nutmeg plantation. The spice, which was once worth more than its weight in gold, was considered a highly lucrative cash crop. However, by the 1850s, agricultural setbacks, including the nutmeg canker disease (which caused nutmeg fruits to wither before they ripened) rendered the nutmeg plantations across the island commercially unviable. While the plantation eventually faltered, the land remained valuable.

By the 1900s, the area was acquired by businessmen Seah Eng Kiat and Seah Boon Kang, who sold parcels of land to new owners and turned the plantation into a residential area. The early 1900s saw rows of terrace houses and shophouses being built by and for affluent Straits Chinese families across the neighbourhood. These homes had a distinct architecture featuring Chinese baroque motifs mingled with European neo-classical flourishes, which reflected the hybrid spirit of Peranakans. The neighbourhood quickly became synonymous with the Peranakan Chinese.

Old and new

A shift in urban development and economic mobility after World War II prompted many Peranakan families to move away from Emerald Hill, towards newer and more modern districts. Yet, the charm of the neighbourhood endured. In 1989, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) designated the neighbourhood as Singapore’s first conservation area, recognising its unique architectural and historical value. This helped to preserve over 100 of its shophouses and terrace homes, freezing the neighbourhood in time. 

Walking along the neighbourhood today, it’s easy to forget you’re just a stone’s throw away from the bustling Orchard Road. While much of Singapore has undergone relentless transformation, Emerald Hill has remained a well-preserved enclave amidst the shopping street’s modern skyscrapers. The enclave is a blend of old and new. While the neighbourhood exudes quiet residential charm by day, it pulses with a different energy by night. Here, find well-loved bars that have turned heritage interiors into sleek watering holes.

While Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story was mainly filmed in Malacca and in a 19th-century colonial-style mansion along Mount Faber, the series pays homage to the neighbourhood. For one, scenes are framed to highlight architectural details which mirror real-life shophouses from pintu pagar (fence-like swinging doors) and floor tiles with floral and geometric motifs to shuttered facades and white louvered windows. Cluttered altar tables, ancestral portraits and batik-patterned screens that divide spaces are also deliberate nods to the lived experience of the Straits Chinese.

Through its layered storytelling and period-accurate costumes, the series honours not just the lives of its characters but the historical and emotional landscape that shaped them. The show immerses us into the world of the Peranakan Chinese, inviting us to remember the neighbourhood which shaped the Peranakan community’s identity, preserving its history.

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