I wrote a blog post some time ago about my wonderful memories of Argus Lane in Penang, and about my family roots on my mother’s side. I finally felt ready to publish it — and then I stumbled upon something that genuinely stopped me in my tracks.
The houses along Argus Lane had been lovingly refurbished and reopened in 2025 as Argus Residences, and they’re now open for booking!
In case you didn’t know, the five terrace houses were built in 1928 and owned by the Church of the Assumption. They were rented to Eurasian families, including the De Souza, Scully, Lesslar (my late grandmother was Mercy Lesslar), Newman (my cousin’s family) and Cutter families. These weren’t just houses — they were home, filled with everyday moments, shared histories and childhood memories.
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| My grandmother (seated, left) Mercy Lesslar with her brother, and my grand uncle, Hector, at 12A Argus lane, back in 1984 |
Early last year, the George Town Heritage Hotels group leased the row of houses from the church and began restoration work. Today, Argus Residences is an extension of Seven Terraces Hotel — also part of GTHH — connected discreetly via a back lane.
Each house now carries the name of the Eurasian family who once lived there: Dragone, Cutter, Newman, Scully and De Souza — a beautiful nod to the past.
The interior then and now
I told my cousin Bernie in Australia, who had no idea about the restoration, and she was wonderfully surprised. I then messaged another cousin, Roseanne Newman, who actually lived there. Her reply? “Yes, I know — we had a chance to attend the opening. It brought back so many wonderful memories.” She even shared a photo from the reopening in May 2025.
Now? I have a new dream — to rent one of those houses for at least a night, just to relive the magic of those holidays we once spent there.
And here's the original post I had written:
Argus Lane, tucked away in Pulau Tikus, Penang, doesn’t look like much today. But for our family, it was the beating heart of our history — a place where the lives of the Castillo and Lesslar clans intertwined through music, hardship, resilience, and love.
From the Philippines to Penang
Our story begins with Benedict “Ben” Castillo, a musician from the Philippines who arrived in Penang with one of his brothers. The Castillos were a large Filipino family — more than ten siblings in all — and Ben’s parents once made the journey to Penang to visit their sons. But contact with the extended family in the Philippines was eventually lost, leaving Penang as the Castillos’ new home.
Ben made his living as a bandsman, part of a wave of Filipino musicians who filled the police and municipal bands of British Malaya in the 1930s. But he was more than a marching musician — he was a pianist of note. A Straits Times radio schedule from 1936 lists Mr. Ben Castillo performing piano solos for a broadcast on Station Z.H.J., Penang, alongside a singer named Mr. L. Lesslar. This wasn’t just entertainment; it was a reflection of how deeply the Filipino and Eurasian communities of Penang were linked through music and culture.
The Lesslars of Penang
Through this world, Ben met and married Mercy Lesslar, daughter of a Eurasian family whose roots ran deep in Penang. The Lesslars were part of the island’s Catholic Eurasian community, clustered around churches like the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Pulau Tikus and the Church of the Assumption in George Town. Mercy’s siblings included Hector, Sunny, Mary, and others whose names live on in family memory.
The Castillos and Lesslars together built a large family of their own.
A Family of Twelve Children
Ben and Mercy’s children were:
1. Andy – married Doris; moved to Kuala Lumpur, taking in siblings Philma and Ben along with Doris’ younger brothers and sister.
2. Girlie (Mercedes) – married Cho Leong.
3. Frances – stillborn or lived only a few hours.
4. Margie (Margarita) – married Jimmy Tan.
5. Connie (Constance) – married Alfie Long.
6. Doreen (Maria) – married Benedict Regis. She was called Maria at birth, but as a child suffered severe asthma. Believing the name “too heavy,” the family renamed her Doreen, and the illness eased.
7. George – did not marry.
8. Paul – married Katie.
9. John – did not marry.
10. Ben – married Gloria, sister of Doris.
11. Philma (Philomena) – converted to Islam and later married Abd Jalil, settling in Johor Bahru.
12. Elena – died as an infant during the Second World War, when medicine was scarce.
Several of the siblings — Margie, Connie, Doreen, and Paul — eventually moved to Singapore, while Philma began her life in Johor. From Penang, the family branches stretched across Malaya and Singapore, but the roots always traced back to Argus Lane.
War and Loss
The Japanese Occupation of Malaya during WWII brought tragedy. Grandfather Ben fell ill and died because medication was unavailable. Meanwhile, Aunty Nita’s parents (from the Lesslar side) were killed in Japanese bombing raids. In a time of grief and disruption, it was Uncle Hector Lesslar who became the family’s guardian.
He gathered about fifteen nieces and nephews under his wing, moving them into the old Lesslar grandparents’ house at Argus Lane. For years, that house was the anchor of the family — a place where orphans of war became siblings to one another, and where resilience was quietly built day by day.
Argus Lane in Memory
By the 1970s and 80s, Argus Lane was still very much alive in family memory. Visits to Uncle Hector’s house meant reconnecting with the Castillos, the Lesslars, the Newmans, and all the extended kin who made up this big Eurasian-Filipino family network. The laughter of cousins, the smell of food, and the warmth of a community that had endured so much — all of it lingered in that little Penang lane.
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| Me (centre) with Uncle John and cousin Angel |
Wider Connections
The Castillos and Lesslars were never isolated. The families intermarried with Chinese, Eurasian, and other Penang clans — the Leongs, Tans, Longs, Regises — creating a rich multicultural tapestry. Family lore also remembers that Maurice Gustave Lesslar was likely a cousin of Mercy, linking our line to other well-documented Lesslar branches in Penang’s Eurasian genealogy.
Legacy
From Spanish-Filipino musicians to Penang Eurasians, from Argus Lane to Singapore and Johor Bahru, the Castillos and Lesslars lived lives of migration, faith, survival, and resilience. Today, their story survives in documents, in newspaper clippings, and in the memories of those who grew up running in and out of that old house on Argus Lane.
For us, Argus Lane is more than a street — it is the living heart of our family history.
