Described as a Victorian-style mansion, the mansion of shipowner Teo Hoo Lye once graced the site that is now occupied by The Cathay. Built in 1913 and demolished in the late 1930s, the mansion was — at some points in its short history — also used in parts by several tenants, one of which was the Royal English School, a private school.
The school moved into part of the premises in 1925 before being evicted in 1931 — after Teo had lent his name to the Teo Hoo Lye Institution. Established by a Methodist minister, Chanan Singh, the school took the name in 1929 through a mutual arrangement which saw Teo providing part of his mansion for the school’s use rent-free.
Teo passed on in 1933 and the grand house came down about four years later in 1937, when Mrs Loke Yew and Loke Wan Tho purchased the site for Cathay Cinema.
The Long and Winding Road 
Thank you for sharing this gem of history.
What a pity that it is no long exist.
So very nostalgic ! Our rich heritage. I wonder if Mr Teo’s descendants are aware of this buidling ?
My mom is Teo Hoo Lye’s granddaughter. She told me some stories of this building. My mom and her sisters attended MGS at Mount Sophia. She told me that the Ma Jie servants would walked them up the hill from this house to the school.