The Menteng residential area is located in the Menteng district. The residential area spreads over the administrative villages of Menteng and Gondangdia. Menteng residential area was the first modern housing estate in
Jakarta. It was developed by the private real estate company N.V. de Bouwploeg, established by
P.A.J. Moojen who had been active in Batavia since 1930. Moojen was also a member of a development group established by Batavia city government, the
Commisie van toesicht op het Geheer van het Land Menteng, which was responsible for planning and developing the larger area of Gondangdia (
Nieuw Gondangdia) of which Menteng was the centerpiece. The project was meant to be the southern expansion of the city Batavia.
Karsten, in his 1939 memorandum to the colonial government, referring to Menteng Project and several other residential projects in the Indies - pointed out that real estate offices and the building trade have turned their attention to the needs of the upper middle class - particularly those of the Europeans, but moreover those of the small category categories of the other population groups in that class (i.e. natives and foreign orientals, mostly Chinese). now the residence of the US Ambassador to Indonesia), home of the Governor of Jakarta (1939), and several lavish residences for local businessmen along Jalan Imam Bonjol (one of which is now the
National Proclamation Museum). During the 1980s, the west part of Menteng was transformed into a commercial area, such as Sabang Street (now Agus Salim street), Jaksa Street, Teuku Cik Di Tiro Street, and Menteng Raya Street. Most of them changed into shops, hotels, offices, and restaurants. The Jalan Jaksa Festival is held every year in Jaksa Street. Since the 1990s, a community of architects, historians, preservationists, and re-greening advocates tried to the preserve the quality of the Menteng original plan. Examples are the lavish houses along Jalan Imam Bonjol and surrounding Taman Suropati.
Mid-low class residences The residence was classified as class 4 to 7. These are the most dominant type of houses in Menteng. The architecture style is a fusion between the Dutch Transitional Period houses and local traditional houses. The area is connected with narrower streets, classified in Dutch as
Laan,
Straat or
Weg. There were three types of small villas, the Tosari, the Sumenep, and the Madura, all were designed with garage and house servants facilities kept under 500 sqm, a prototype for houses in modern Indonesia. The master plan of Menteng included some facilities and infrastructures: •
N.V. de Bouwploeg Architects office, (now
Cut Mutiah Mosque). •
Bataviasche Kunstkring (now the
Kunstkring Art Gallery) •
Nassaukerk (now St. Paulus Church). •
Gedung Ditjen Kebudayaan • A school building (now in HOS. Cokroaminoto Street) • Parks cover about 30 percent of the area in 23 places (e.g. Suropati Park and Situ Lembang). ==Transport==