Double take

A striking addition to a once-derelict Perth cottage delivered a dramatically different old-meets-new home.

- Jackie Brygel

THIS IS THE LIFE

It’s only a short stroll from Kerry and Simon’s home to Perth’s busy city centre, yet the redesigned house feels a world removed from the hustle and bustle of a lively metropolis. The veiled first floor and brick garage protect the property’s interior living zones, creating a cocooning effect for this couple and their children. “Between the roof garden and courtyard, we can enjoy green spaces and views from every angle,” says Kerry.

You could say it’s not typical for a house to have its own name, let alone two of them. But the artfully reborn inner-city Perth home of award-winning building designer Kerry Jacobs and her interior-architect husband Simon is anything but run of the mill.

“We call it the ‘Veiled House’ because of the aluminium ‘veil’ that wraps around the upper floor,” says Kerry, who with Simon heads boutique building and interior design practice, JUO. “But almost everyone in the neighbourhood seems to know our dog, Poppy, by name, so they just call it ‘Poppy’s House’.”

Both names have meaning and are reflective of the somewhat yin and yang nature of the house – the new and the old, the small and the big. “The house has something of a split personality to its structure, so its two different names are indicative of its design and soul,” Kerry says.

Also true is that what was once a severely dilapidated circa-1908 worker’s cottage sitting on a compact 316-square-metre plot of land has been transformed by Kerry into a stylish and spacious home for her young family.