OPEN HOUSE PERTH - Sun. 11th
Following from Saturday's visit to the Open House venues.
On Sunday, Sofia a friend who is an architect and her two daughters joined me for a visit to some of Perth's funkiest and innovative private homes.
Because I had to take the car this time I planned the visit with google maps so that I could travel from one place to the other without wasting time. I had aimed to see 11 houses but managed to see 9, as I hadn't counted on the waiting lines to get into some of the most popular houses, and the time spent inside each house...
Still, we loved what we saw and came home with lots of ideas.
HOUSE A was a 3-storey tiny house with a garage underneath, lounge and kitchen on the ground floor and a loft bedroom. It was built in the front of a block where an old house was already built (undergoing renovations), and a third house was being built at the back.
House A was made of recycled concrete panels and white washed recycled bricks, and the floors and kitchen counters were all made of cement.
It was ideal for a young couple, it had a little courtyard at the back with not much maintenance needed.
ABBETTHAUS was a recently constructed house, the owners had just moved in. Built at the back of an older house which faced the street behind, it was double storey, very modern, and I loved the tiny plunge pool at the entrance.
The BRICK HOUSE, probably one of the most popular destinations judging by the long line of people waiting outside (it took us about 30min before we got in), was designed to look like a renovated heritage factory turned house.
The brick exterior didn't convince me, but I liked some of the indoor features.
It had 4 levels, with an underground entertainment room, the kitchen/lounge/dining/study and bathroom on the ground floor, 3 bedrooms on the first floor and a terrace above the main bedroom with views to the city centre.
My favourites in this house were the round window above a net over the lounge (it could hold 1 tonne) with views to the city and by the mini library. I could imagine relaxing there reading a book with the sun shining on me.
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| Lounge, round window with views of city, one of the bedrooms, the relaxing net and window, underground movie room, bathroom |
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| The terrace and the hydraulic door/window above the staircase to the terrace, the kitchen, a vespa in the lounge and balcony |
Designed for the rental market on a small block of land, the DOG HOUSE had two bedrooms each with a walk in robe and en-suite bathroom on the first floor and a kitchen, lounge and dining room that led to a small courtyard.
The front of the house pays homage to the owner's terrier (who died last year), with the main wall made of angled glazed bricks that shows a dog and even the cement pavement at the entrance had dog paws.
The dog wall is better seen from the other side of the road.
BETON HOUSE would get my top 3 vote. It seemed to be very popular too with a long queue outside.
A 60's house renovated by Western Australia's favourite contestants from "The Block" and "Matt & Kim to the Rescue, it was chic and modern. It was for sale and the price includes about 30 thousand dollars worth of furniture.
When I searched online for the price I actually came across the previous sale in September 2014 with photos of the house before, and you can see the amazing transformation from awful to amazing in the two links. It went from a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 garage to 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and 2 car bays.
It's in a very good suburb and the price also reflects the renovation - from $732,000 to an asking price of between $1,175,000 to $1,225,000 now.
The only think I didn't like the bath in the upstairs bedroom, but on the other hand the walk in wardrobe behind the bedroom with access to the bathroom was my dream wardrobe!
https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-wa-mount+hawthorn-117530307
https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-wa-mount+hawthorn-129808290
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| From drab to fab - before and after (photos from Reiwa website) |
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| Before and After house plan (photos from Reiwa website) |
At the CASA 314 - STUDIO CONVERSION, entry was through a back lane that led to a former garage that had been converted into an architect's studio for the owner.
Folding glass doors had been added to 3 sides of the garage, one leading to the lane, the others to the courtyard. A small kitchen and bathroom had been added to one side of the garage which made the room self contained.
A nice green tiled spa bath was accessible from the garden and also from a room behind the kitchen.
We had access to the kitchen and to the upstairs family room via a funky staircase with the walls covered in mdf which had been burned with a torch burner and then given a coat of varnish.
The upstairs room was also totally covered in mdf - tv unit, plenty of storage, a unit dividing lounge to a study, and even part of the house roof was covered with mdf and the former chimney extended - apparently the kids enjoyed climbing and sliding down that ramp.
The rest of the house was out of bounds to visitors.
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| The former garage - entry, roof skylight, the studio and courtyard with kids cubby house |
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| The staircase covered mdf, a spa bath accessible from the garden and from the interior, the top extension, the top lounge and kitchen |
UNION ST RESIDENCE, was also very nice, a bit too modern for me, double storey, also had a small plunge pool on the tiny front courtyard.
OGILVIE HOUSE was number 2 on my list. A former 2 bedroom cottage which was remodeled and enlarged from a 2 bedroom to a 4 bedroom.
The front entrance was relocated to the side and the former entry corridor space was converted into wardrobes for the 2 bedrooms now at the front of the house.
A modern back addition added 2 extra bedrooms, a study and a very roomy lounge/dining/kitchen.
A lovely garden geared for kids and a small pool at the back completed this lovely renovation. A quirky detail was that in the old part of the house the ?antique" light switches and wall plugs were left.
And lastly we saw the house that was my favourite, CLEAVER ST RESIDENCE which also combined old charm and ultra modern.
There was so much to love in this house - the views to the city from the top floor bedroom, the cosy courtyard, the bird like light fitting above the dining table, the lead glass original front door, the arches and corbels in the corridor, the long kitchen counter....
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| Courtyard seen from different perspectives |
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| Lead glass front door, arches in corridor, bird like light fitting, kitchen, glass doors to the lounge |
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| Top floor bedroom, view to the city from bedroom, looking into a bedroom window, small study with views, chairs on bedroom corner |
Somewhere on one of our stops we spotted this synthetic grass covered VW. We had to stop and take photos. I wonder if it's roadworthy or it's just a garden ornament.
Hope you enjoyed the house tours and that the grass car made you smile 😊
