Apart from giant supermarket chains like NTUC Fairprice and Sheng Siong, another outlet that we love to get our groceries from is HAO Mart. Established in 2016, the HAO Mart brand is a chain of minimarts found islandwide, iconic for its lime green and orange logo.
So what would someone who once ran over 50 convenience stores islandwide do with his money? Well, a common purchase for the affluent here in Singapore would be property, not just any property. We’re talking about the kind of Good Class Bungalow (GCB) that’ll make you go woahhh, and the home of Dr Tan Kim Yong, HAO Mart’s founder and chairman, certainly doesn’t disappoint.
HAO Mart founder’s Jervois Hill GCB faces possible foreclosure
Dr Tan’s Jervois Hill GCB is now at the centre of a legal battle with OG, the department store operator that used to be HAO Mart’s landlord at Taste Orchard.
The loan dates back to 4th August 2023, when Dr Tan entered into a $66.2 million loan agreement with OG to help cover expenses associated with Taste Orchard, including renovation works and rent.
To secure the loan, Dr Tan and his wife, Teo Siew Ling, used their jointly owned Jervois Hill property as collateral. This meant that OG could potentially claim the property if the loan obligations were not met.
Things took a turn in September 2025, when OG cut short HAO Mart’s 7.5-year lease on the former OG Orchard Point building, alleging unpaid rent and unauthorised subletting. OG’s appointed receivers subsequently applied to the Supreme Court to have the mortgage declared enforceable. If successful, this could allow them to take over the Jervois Hill property.
However, Dr Tan and his wife are contesting OG’s claim, arguing that the department store operator has no right to take over their home.
What happens at the 15th October court hearing?
Dr Tan and his wife reportedly tried to pay off the mortgage using a $57.5 million loan offer from OCBC, but OG rejected the proposed discharge of the mortgage in November 2025. The couple subsequently sued OG, although the lawsuit was reportedly discontinued following a settlement.
The next hearing is scheduled for 15th October 2026, but it won’t determine whether the GCB gets foreclosed just yet. Instead, the court will hear the couple’s appeal over how the dispute should proceed.
For now, no court has declared the mortgage enforceable, so what happens to the GCB is still up in the air.
Inside the Jervois Hill GCB
Situated in Jervois Hill – which is just off Tanglin Road and next to the High Commission of Brunei Darussalam – the home sits on over 30,000sqft of land across 2 plots, and was completed in 2017. The neighbourhood is pretty well known for its many GCBs, and if you took a walk down the road, you’ll pretty much be in awe of the many impressive-looking homes.
Zooming in to our GCB in question, the home is actually called Villa Otto, designed by Italian-based designers Mercurio Design Lab (who are the brains behind some pretty amazing Sentosa Cove homes) and A.M. Architects as the project architect.
The home features 1 master bedroom, 2 junior bedrooms, 2 guest bedrooms, a prayer room, a study, a game room, as well as other frills like a karaoke room, sauna/spa/shower room, bar and wine cellar, and a home theatre.
Villa Otto’s feng shui-inspired design
Image credit: Mercurio Design Lab
Why Otto? Well, it’s because Otto means ‘eight’ in Italian, and the number is also considered auspicious in the Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui. According to Mercurio Design Lab, the elegant home pays homage to the client’s enthusiasm for it, with auspicious symbolism found throughout the house, right down to the furnishings and more intricate details.
Image credit: Architizer
If you take a bird’s eye view of the bungalow, you’ll recognise that the home resembles a figure 8. Having a home literally designed around the Chinese symbol for prosperity is somewhat like an outward gesture of wealth. It also looks like the symbol for infinity, which we guess symbolises infinite flow of huat?
According to Massimo Mercurio, Creative Director of Mercurio Design Lab, the design also celebrates “the beauty of fundamental geometries”. You’ll also struggle to find harsh angles or sharp edges around the home’s design, an intentional detail meant to symbolise the fluidity and continuity of the home’s energy.
Image adapted from: Google Maps
Other than from the air, the number 8 is also seen at the entrance of the gate leading to the home. We’re guessing that this is also symbolic, perhaps meant to usher wealth from the outside into the home. The number 8 also pops out throughout the home’s interior, from door handles, ceiling insets, to wall motifs.
GCB designed to resemble a spaceship
Another aspect of the home that we found particularly interesting was how it exudes cool, futuristic vibes, which juxtaposes really well with the olden Feng Shui philosophy.
Image credit: Mercurio Design Lab
From the front, you can kind of see how the home might resemble a spaceship, with the two sides of the ‘8’ being the wings and the main roof in the middle being the vessel’s body.
In addition, the full-glass panels of the first and second floors complement the steel-cladded ceiling of each level, which according to Mercurio, makes the home look like a spacecraft preparing to take off or land. Definitely a great conversation starter when guests first enter the compound.
Lavish dining area & 5,381sqft master bedroom
Image credit: Design and Architecture
While interior shots are few and far between, we did manage to chance upon this shot of the home’s lavish dining area, which features a large dining table – with nothing less than rounded edges, of course – that can comfortably seat over 10 people.
Just adjacent to the dining area is a central atrium with a statue art piece that consists of two intertwined infinity symbols, once again symbolising limitless wealth. From what we can see, the other side is a large lounge area, presumably to host guests and also a space to chill and laze around.
One thing that the home definitely doesn’t lack is space. Fun fact: according to Mercurio Design Lab, the master bedroom occupies about 500sqm (~5,381sqft), which is pretty much the floor space of 4 to 5 5-room HDB flats combined.
Swimming pool that wraps around the GCB
Image credit: Mercurio Design Lab
When it comes to landed property here in Singapore, you know that the ones featuring their own swimming pool are seen as a cut above the rest, purely because of the physical space and cost involved in maintaining a private pool. Well, Villa Otto certainly doesn’t disappoint in this area either.
Unlike other swimming pools which are typically rectangular and/or take up space at the side of the house, the pool here at Villa Otto wraps around the perimeter of the home and is easily accessible from what looks like the main living room.
We’d hazard a guess that the choice to have a ‘river-like’ pool is yet another play at incorporating Feng Shui in the home’s design; after all, water is considered one of the essential elements, and so having a pool that resembles a river flowing is akin to prosperity or wealth flowing through and into the home.
Image credit: Mercurio Design Lab
Moving away from the pool, we can see that the home is also set amidst a lush, green space teeming with plants. Intentional again? You bet – apparently, having greenery around the house is seen to promote calmness and radiance, as well as good luck for its inhabitants.
HAO Mart founder’s Jervois Hill GCB
With its figure-8 layout, spaceship-like exterior, and lavish interiors, Villa Otto is certainly one of Singapore’s more unusual GCBs.
The 30,138sqft property now faces an uncertain future, with OG seeking to enforce the mortgage securing its $66.2 million loan to Dr Tan and take over the home. For now, it remains to be seen how the legal dispute will play out and whether Villa Otto will eventually change hands.
Check out some of the other business owners’ homes here:
- Founder of Don Don Donki Has A $21.25M Villa In Sentosa Cove, It’s A Wonderful Place To Be
- Sheng Siong Boss Has A ‘Hidden’ $50M GCB With Ultra-Lavish Pools, Dining Rooms & Theatre
- Hai Di Lao Family Owns 2 GCBs On Gallop Road, Comes From All Your Hotpot Money
Cover image credit: Mercurio Design Lab, Design and Architecture
This article was originally published on 4th July 2022, and updated on 13th October 2026.
Drop us your email so you won't miss the latest news.
