THE GREAT DIVIDE Separate spaces for living and entertaining were a priority when renovating this modernist home in Perth
This revived modernist home in Perth has entirely separate private and social spaces so the owners can party like it’s 1960 without waking the kids
Young Perth couple Carly and Chez knew they were onto a winner the moment they stumbled upon this 1960s home in City Beach. A residential suburb with contemporary dwellings, it was once flush with mid-century buildings designed specifically to house athletes participating in the 1962 Commonwealth Games, held nearby. “Most of the modernist family homes in the area have been knocked down since then, which is a shame, so we were lucky to have found it,” says Chez. “The land value was much more than what we anticipated, but we couldn’t let the opportunity [to renovate] pass. The house had such great potential.”
The couple’s dream, for themselves and daughter Cleo, was to live by the beach, and they loved the strong sense of community in the street of just nine houses. The city is only 20 minutes’ drive, but feels like a million miles away. “There’s a large Norfolk pine out the front and big eucalyptus trees all around us,” says Carly. “We often wake to bird calls and it’s pretty special falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves.”
However, the house was in disarray and not fit for them to move in straightaway, so they engaged Ohlo Studio’s Jen Lowe, who’d previously worked on a project with them. The environment that Carly and Chez loved resonated with interior designer Jen, especially the surrounding sand dunes, which served as inspiration for the interiors. “We wanted to create a material and colour palette that riffed on the expansive, sun-bleached West Australian landscape,” she says, citing the ivory-hued travertine flooring and sheer linen curtains. The restrained scheme was enhanced by sapele veneer in the kitchen and rich jarrah in the bedroom, both a nod to the home’s past.
Carly and Chez wanted to retain the mid-century feel of the place, but were realistic about making the changes necessary for modern living. Jen and architect Simon Pendal worked on a clever response that involved creating sculptural design features to hide the new amenities. Because of the home’s age, there was no roof cavity for ducted air-conditioning, so they lowered and scooped the ceiling to make room for integrated cooling. In the living space is a new two-tiered plinth that looks decorative but actually serves to conceal the top of the basement stairs underneath. “We took opportunities to create non-intrusive sculptural features that add to the character of the house without exposing their true purpose,” says Jen.
Working within the existing footprint, the interiors were gutted and most of the windows and exterior doors replaced. A faded concrete path was designed to dissect the home’s
The colour palette reflects the blue skies, pale yellow sand and rich red timbers of the WA landscape
“We stayed true to the design era without being too retrospective and created something that could work in with the clients’ lifestyle”
JEN LOWE, INTERIOR DESIGNER
east-west divide, starting at the front letterbox and navigating all the way through the central spine, emerging on the other side of the property near the rear garden’s rotunda. “The original layout hasn’t been tampered with too much,” says Carly. “If you divide the house down the middle, the living area is in the west wing and the bedrooms are in the east, so we can easily entertain after putting Cleo down to sleep and shutting off the bedroom side.”
The kitchen was formerly in the centre of the house and walled off the two living areas. As big entertainers and serious cooks, the couple found this harsh separation didn’t work for them. They wanted a more seamless relationship between the spaces. To overcome this, Jen created a ‘floating kitchen, which “gently carved out the two distinct living areas without compromising the view or creating a disconnect”. This means that from the island bench, Carly and Chez can interact with guests in the living area and kids in the family room at the same time. They also have a line of sight through to their outdoor kitchen, where the real fun began.
After improving the ambience for entertaining (by removing downlights - except for a few spots on the workbench - and adopting lighting with an ambient glow, as well as hooking up a sound system), they got to work choosing their appliances.
The industry professionals chose a Bora down-draft rangehood, an induction cooktop, double ovens and a Hibachi grill.
“Chez loves being out the back working with the charcoal pit or the gas barbecue,” says Carly. “We are always thinking of people to have over so we can cook.”
Ohlo Studio is at ohlostudio.com. Simon Pendal is at simonpendal.com. Building work by Rossbrook Construction; rossbrookconstruction.com. Soft landscaping by Steven Postmus of CAPA; carrierandpostmus.com