black- and- white houses Mock Tudor houses, built between the end of the 19th century and World War II. The design of these residences was much influenced by the Arts and Crafts and art deco movements. Typically, they were two- storey buildings with large verandahs— sometimes up to three of them— on the upper floor, with a car or carriage porch below the projecting upper- floor verandah. The ground floor contained an entrance hall with a stairway. Rooms on the upper floor were arranged between continuous verandahs running along both the front and back of the house. Often the main building was linked to an out- house. The house was topped with a pitched roof, with wide eaves acting as very effective sunshades.

In the 1930s, Mock Tudor gave way to the ‘tropical art deco’ style which favoured a more streamlined design and flat roofs.

Most of these houses were built by government departments (such as the Public Works Department) and larger commercial firms. Today, most of the black- and- white houses— so named on account of the way the exterior was painted, often with a ‘half- timbered’ effect— are owned and managed by the state, although there are still a few in private hands.

Photo credit: The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research/Kelvin Lim