A Glimpse Of The Heritage Bungalow

ABOUT THE OWNERS

Mark and Ondina Montgomery are a couple that came to Singapore from Australia 11 years ago, as Mark is an international film producer and was setting up an office here. He runs his own film company, Xeitgeist Entertainment Group. The company’s films include some of Hollywood’s artists such as Jonathan Rhys-Myers, John Hurt and Dev Patel. Mark has been in the film industry for over 25 years, and he has cultivated diverse connections in the industry with Hollywood producers and film financiers in the United States. 

Ondina is originally from Denmark and have been studying design in Australia, and completed her degree here in LASELLE College of the Arts. Ondina has a strong interest in fabrics and patterns, that led her to study textiles and interiors. She is currently a fashion and interior designer and has set up her own business, MAHCollection. The goal of her business is to have a brand designed by women, made by women, for women. Ondina mainly creates silk luxury and resort wear and runs her business from a studio in the grounds of her bungalow. 

ABOUT THE PLACE

Overview of the house

Heritage Bungalow is a 1920’s colonial bungalow located in the heart of Singapore, just meters away from the Orchard Rd shopping strip. After entering through the door, there is a waiting area that is a cross arc that comes through from the spacious living room and dining room. The house also consists of a children’s room and the couple’s bedroom. The outdoor area is surrounded by beautiful greenery planted to look like a mini botanical garden, a garden area with a classic big swing and a play area for kids, as well as a large terrace with a swimming pool. 

The importance of art

Art plays an important part in the couple’s lives as well as in their process of designing the house. They travel very often and they love collecting artwork from all around the world, which are displayed all around the house. Their favourite art piece would be the Knot Sculpture, crafted by a Brazilian artist that made it from recycled coca-cola bottle tops. It is displayed on the left wall in their living room! 

As an interior designer, Ondina likes to recondition old furniture and transform them into something new. The overall design of the house is made to have a shabby chic and vintage look, and the furnishings are all custom-made. The doors were made in Bali to be specially fitted, the door handles that are shaped like a horse are made from Russia as part of an antique collection.

The furniture in the dining room were all designed by Ondina herself, where she collaborated with a company in India and it took a year to be made and delivered

Australians love entertaining

Being Australians, entertaining is very important to the couple. They’ve got a barbecue area on a large terrace space with a pool deck for gatherings to take place.

The house also has a huge front area that extends from the main gate to the bungalow. Mark makes use of this area well to hold events, and being in the film industry, he would put up a huge projector screen to build their own private cinema. 

To sum up!

Heritage Bungalow is definitely a unique venue to film in. The presence of such massive bungalows in Singapore is extremely rare, and are usually located in areas that are inaccessible. We should also give the owners credit for putting so much thought and effort through the design process of the house. Do be careful of their furniture and artwork around the house when you film! Not forgetting that Mark is from the film industry, maybe you’ll get to meet him and get some tips or help from him! 

You can also book Ondina’s MAHcollection studio for $100/hr at https://www.filmplace.co/rooms/10426