Perth Voice Interactive

THE vendors instantly recognised the beauty hidden in the bones of this Rookwood Street home but it would take a bit of effort before others recognised it.

“It was a little lean-to place, with sand everywhere,” I was told. Thirty-six years later it’s a stunning three-bedroom Mt Lawley abode full of light-filled spaces, and surrounded by a delightful garden.

House and garden have transformed over years as a growing family’s needs changed. As when their young sons hit teenage-hood and more space was needed.

Seamless melding

The vendor’s architect husband turned the garage into a study and bedroom, a seamless melding that created a huge space that looks like it’s always been there.

The original section of the home has plenty of heritage features including high ceilings, fireplaces, wide jarrah floors and lovely ceiling roses.

The formal dining room–off the kitchen and formal lounge–has french doors to the garden, and is the ideal spot for the family gatherings, especially Christmas when the doors are thrown open for cooling breezes and for kids (now grandkids) to play outside.

A rear verandah was extended to create a spacious terracotta-tiled, family/dining area, the rear wall comprising a series of attractive, white casement windows, topped by a glass section of the ceiling for a light-filled space open to the tranquil, tree-filled garden.

A large hatch in the kitchen overlooks family room and garden, making keeping an eye on the kids, while cooking, an easy chore.

This generous space is also practical, with a sweep of bench tops and a couple of pantries.

The vendor’s love of gardening shines through from the moment you step into the lovely front garden with its swathe of grass, and colourful plantings, including a particularly magnificent, and unusual, blue bird hibiscus, national flower of South Korea.

Sitting on 759sqm things get even greener in the rear garden where sculptural native trees, including a couple of peppermints and a bottle brush create deep pools of shade for alfresco entertaining, or to simply appreciate the bird-life.

by JENNY D’ANGER

57 Rookwood Street, Mt Lawley
from $1.225 million
Natalie Hoye 0405 812 273
Acton Mt Lawley 9727 2488