Quick answer. From 1933 to 1999, Bukit Timah was home to Singapore's second racecourse — the Bukit Timah Turf Club. After the club moved to Kranji in 1999, the 176-hectare site remained largely untouched for over two decades. URA's 2024 master plan reopens that land as the Bukit Timah Turf City precinct — and Dunearn House is the first residential development inside it.
A pre-war racecourse, in a then-rural Bukit Timah
The Bukit Timah Turf Club opened in 1933 — built by the Singapore Turf Club to replace the original racecourse at what is now the Padang. Bukit Timah was, at the time, well outside the urban core. The choice of location reflected a need for space (gallop training and a 1,800-yard turf track) more than a vision of the area as a future residential heart of Singapore.
Through the post-war period, the racecourse became one of Singapore's signature gathering places — a working-day institution for the racing community and a once-a-week social anchor for thousands of casual race-goers. The Grandstand, the canopy of mature trees and the long lawns of the inner field shaped the look and feel of Dunearn Road for decades.
The 1999 relocation to Kranji
By the late 1990s, two pressures had built up around the Bukit Timah site:
- Traffic. Race-day congestion on Bukit Timah Road and Dunearn Road had become difficult to manage as the surrounding district grew.
- Land use. Bukit Timah had transformed into a high-density residential district — Singapore's most sought-after school belt, with a string of post-war private estates radiating outward. A 176-hectare racecourse was, by any measure, an unusual neighbour.
In 1999, the Singapore Turf Club moved to a new purpose-built racecourse at Kranji. The old Bukit Timah site was repurposed for interim uses — most visibly The Grandstand retail precinct, recreational equestrian facilities, and a patchwork of education and lifestyle tenants — but the long-term plan was always pending.
25 years of "what next?"
For most of the 2000s and 2010s, the site occupied an unusual position: too valuable to leave fallow, too constrained by interim leases to redevelop. Generations of Bukit Timah residents grew up walking past the perimeter without a clear answer to what would replace it.
The wait ended in May 2024. The Minister for National Development and URA jointly unveiled the Bukit Timah Turf City master plan — a multi-decade transformation of the entire 176 hectares into a mixed-tenure residential precinct, with 15,000–20,000 new homes, ~35% greenery, two MRT lines and a green corridor stitched into the landscape.
For the precinct details, see our Turf City master plan explainer.
The thread that runs through Dunearn House
Dunearn House sits at the southern edge of the precinct, on the Dunearn Road frontage — exactly where the racecourse's perimeter once met the public road. The repurposed Grandstand sits a short walk away. The mature tree canopy that defined the racecourse era survives, woven into the URA master plan as part of the 35% greenery target.
The development brand — From Horses to Heritage — is a deliberate nod to that history. Not because the racecourse will be replicated, but because what is being built next inherits a piece of Singapore's social memory. Buyers at Dunearn House are buying into a precinct with a story — and into the first chapter of what comes next. See the showflat page to register for the preview.
A quick timeline
| Year | Event | | --- | --- | | 1933 | Bukit Timah Turf Club racecourse opens. | | 1960s–90s | Bukit Timah develops as Singapore's most prestigious school belt. | | 1999 | Singapore Turf Club relocates to Kranji. | | 2000s–10s | Interim uses (The Grandstand, equestrian, education, F&B). | | May 2024 | URA unveils Bukit Timah Turf City master plan. | | 2024 | Dunearn Road GLS site awarded to Frasers × Sekisui × CSC Land. | | 2026 | Dunearn House preview — first residential launch inside the precinct. | | 2032 | Cross Island Line Turf City MRT opens. |
Frequently asked
Will any of the original racecourse structures be retained? URA's master plan includes the repurposing of the iconic Grandstand and central open space as a public realm anchor — preserving an architectural memory of the racecourse era within the new precinct.
Is Dunearn House on the racecourse footprint itself? Dunearn House sits on the Dunearn Road frontage of the master plan area, immediately adjacent to the historical racecourse perimeter. The exact GLS parcel is the southernmost edge of the URA-defined Turf City master plan zone.
Why is the project named "Dunearn House"? The name references Dunearn Road — the address that fronts the project — and the larger residential heritage of the Bukit Timah / Dunearn corridor. For the developer JV behind the name, see our developer track record.