The Jalan Besar Conservation Area is located just outside the boundaries of the Little India Historic District and stretches along Jalan Besar and Foch Road, the upper portions of Tessensohn Road, Race Course Road and Tyrwhitt Road, along Cavan Road and Hamilton Road, parts of Serangoon Road, Lavender Street, Kitchener Road, Sam Leong Road, Maude Road. It also includes the ornate row of terrace houses along Petain Road.
The area was originally an estate of over six acres extending from Serangoon Road to Jalan Besar, where historically, sireh and nipah were extensively cultivated. The area is significant for its historic streetscapes created by buildings with a variety of vernacular architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period in Singapore’s history when the elaborately decorated shophouses flourished.