Past and present meet in this Yogyakarta home nestled in a bamboo forest Image by Merwin Adenan

‘ This is one of my dream projects,’ says Indonesian designer Eko Priharseno. When Priharseno was initially asked to design a luxurious house in Yogyakarta, he was excited to find out the client was architect and property developer Wawan Dalbo. ‘He didn’t need drawings or 3D models — what he needed was to talk about his passion for art and architecture and his vision,’ Priharseno says.

The two first met when Dalbo commissioned Priharseno’s firm AEDI, which he co-founded with his partner Audrey Bernanda, to design the interiors for a new hotel. Some time later, Dalbo began building a new house for himself and got back in touch. ‘The structure itself was almost finished, but most of the interior hadn’t been done yet,’ says Priharseno. To turn his house into a home, Dalbo needed a team that understood his personality.

The house sits next to a waterfall in the middle of a bamboo forest. It spans 3,000 square metres, with an outdoor swimming pool and a 450-square-metre car gallery. ‘Cars are one of Wawan’s passions,’ says Priharseno. ‘He doesn’t like the idea of buying a car — he wants to build it.’ The car gallery allows Dalbo to showcase his creations in a glass-walled steel structure flanked by a raised walkway.

As for the rest of the property, Dalbo says he drew inspiration from the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. ‘I really enjoyed the flow of the space,’ he says. ‘The design plays with elevation, narrow versus wide corridors, open versus small spaces, old versus new buildings, and constructed versus natural elements.’

Dalbo is an avid art collector, with many pieces by Yogyakarta artists plus an array of eclectic objects in his collection. The challenge for Priharseno and Bernanda was to design a memorable living space without overshadowing the art. ‘We carefully selected furniture and decorations that are less powerful but blend well with the whole concept,’ Priharseno says.

The duo assembled a mix of new and vintage furniture, with a contrast between raw and polished textures. ‘Many elements of the house are salvaged materials from demolition sites,’ says Dalbo, referring to pieces that include a bridge and Chinese temple doors. ‘Even the pillars sustaining the ceiling of the main house are made from salvaged wood from an old port in Borneo. With the right amount of care, these materials become an understated luxury that’s not easily replicable.’

Priharseno and Bernanda arranged everything in a way that felt natural. ‘We want his house to tell the tale of a journey,’ says Priharseno. ‘Some furniture is arranged to break the squareness, as well as to give a sense of freedom — an off-grid kind of feel — and flow between the artworks on display.’

Dalbo is mesmerised by the result. ‘There’s a lyricism between the rooms, evoking Italy’s era of abstraction and futurism in the twenties,’ he says. ‘There are sharp contrasts, nuanced with a strange air of volumes and strictness in colour. The past was never a defining factor in building the house, but it soon became apparent that it’s the ruling element that ties everything together.’