 These luxurious homes earned the street its Chinese name "ji chap keng" or "Twenty House Street".In 1886, one of these 20 houses, owned by W.R. George, was bought over by the Sarkies brothers and later became the Raffles Hotel.By the 1880s, these houses were turned into hostels or eating places to cater to the increasing flow of travellers and Beach Road ceased to be a prestigious residential district.