IT was deja vu arriving at this Hill View Road home—it’s featured in a number of publications for its water-wise garden, including a story I wrote for the Voice a few year ago. The vendor was way ahead of her time when, some 30 years ago, she began planting out a sensational native garden that…

IT’S not often we ordinary folk get the chance to look down on the royal family, but from this 15th floor eyrie you’ll have a birds’s eye view when the Queen, or her heir, next stay at Government House. Or you could check out the comings and goings at the Duxton Hotel—where Prince Harry allegedly…

WAILS of protest turned to shouts of pure delight as Hyde Park’s water playground sprang back to life and half a dozen pre-schoolers frolicked and laughed under cooling fountains of water. What better view could anyone want from their front garden and an elevated, street-facing verandah? This four-bedroom home gazes across the leafy park and…

A MENORAH is a six-branched oil lamp, a symbol of Judaism since ancient times. A Menora is a traditional dance of southern Thailand/northern Malaysia. I don’t think I’d be going out on a limb to say Menora is named for the former, given one of WA’s oldest synagogues can be found here. And an aerial…

This regal residence couldn’t be on a more appropriately named street in East Perth. The massive timber front doors wouldn’t look out of place on a mediaeval manor house. Soaring, gloriously ornate ceilings, marble floors and cute Juliet balconies add a da Vinci touch to the four-bedroom/four-bathroom abode. My jaw hung slackly from the moment…

It came as no surprise to discover the vendor of this Yokine property is an alternative massage therapist, working from home. All those good vibes flow through this bright and thoroughly modern abode ensuring tranquility and a sense of well-being…”A sanctuary,” she says. Internal halls are a waste of space the vendor reckoned, so she…

EBENEZER HOWARD is relatively unknown today, but it was his vision of utopian garden suburbs where people lived in harmony with nature that is the basis for today’s Coolbinia. And if you think that’s a big call, check out the council webpage. Publication of Howard’s Garden Cities of Tomorrow in 1898 sparked the garden city…

Following in the footsteps of St Patrick in Ireland, St Mirin is said to have rid the Scottish island of Cumbrae of snakes in the 700s. The original owners of this magnificent federation home in Mt Lawley probably named it after their windswept old home. A three-bedroom/two-bathroom place built almost 100 years ago, the spelling…

This sweeping two-storey apartment in Wittenoom Street, East Perth is all uber-modern opulence and sleekness, across a sprawling 306sqm. It’s as far removed from the deadly-dust swept ghost town the street is named after that you could possibly imagine. Glowing timber floors and a gargantuan open-plan living/dining/kitchen greet you as you step out of the…

This quintessential Australian turn-of-the-century home could have been conjured from the pages of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet. Although a single storey home, its age-mellowed brick and iron lace work of the front verandah and the glorious tree-lined street are reminiscent of the homes of the Lambs and Pickles. No doubt when built this two-bedroom abode would…