The west coast home with a zen-like sensibility

One of the exceptional aspects of living in Australia is public access to foreshore areas. From beach promenades to riverside cycleways, being able to freely enjoy the waterways, beaches and parklands is something that many Australians hold dear.

However, for those fortunate enough to live by the water and enjoy the sometimes breathtaking views, it has its drawbacks, especially if your home is not designed to manage being in such a public position.

Interested in more stories like this? Order your copy of the latest issue of Kanebridge Quarterly magazine here.

The owners of this property overlooking Swan Canning Riverpark in South Perth had recently decided to buy a home in the city to be closer to their extended family of children and grandchildren. But while they love the views across the park to the Swan River and the city beyond, the strata title property left something to be desired.

Built in the 1980s, it lent heavily on floor-to-ceiling glass windows and downlighting, creating a goldfish bowl-like experience for those living within.

The property has exceptional waterfront views. The design has reached a balance between capturing the vista and managing privacy. Image: Dion Robeson

In addition to the need for privacy, project architect Suzanne Hunt says the owners wanted to create a sense of sanctuary for their home, citing peace and quiet as a high priority. They also required a home that would allow them to live in comfort and safety as they grew older, while still being stylish.

“The strata unit as it was would not allow them to age in place — it was all shiny tiles,” says Hunt. “I suggested we look at some new options that would give us the opportunity to really investigate doing a house that was smaller but had all the details they love.”

The palette is neutral and limited with multiple but interconnected living areas. Image: Dion Robeson Styling: Anna Flanders

Hunt had previously designed their existing home, a sprawling property in the Perth Hills, which had reflected the owners’ affinity with Japanese design. Given the city site had neighbours on or close to both boundaries and strata rules about height and setbacks were fixed, a Japanese approach to the design was an obvious match. It would also meet the owners’ desire for a serene environment.

“Japanese design has a calmness,” says Hunt. “There are minimal materials and the interior design is architectural.

“The beauty is in the architecture, like timber battens on the walls.”

Starting from scratch, Hunt designed a two-bedroom, single-level home using a pared back palette made up primarily of timber, stone, concrete and glass.

“Everything in the house is calming, simple and highly crafted with a Japanese influence,” she says.

The house has a Japanese sensibility, with wider doorways and seamless thresholds to allow the owners to age in place. Image: Dion Robeson Styling: Anna Flanders

Thresholds are seamless, doorways have been designed to be wide enough for wheelchairs to easily pass through and fixtures like taps do not require twisting to function. Skirting height sensor lights mark common pathways, like from the garage to the living space, to improve safety without compromising the interior design aesthetic.

“The lighting has been designed to make life easier for them,” she says. “It’s very subtle. One of the owners has sight issues because of cataracts, so glaring light is really bad.”

Because of the narrow nature of the site, drawing light into the north west-facing house was always going to be a challenge. Hunt designed three internal courtyards with retractable doors placed at different points throughout the floorplan to allow in light and improve ventilation. These internal gardens also serve to bring a natural element into the house, connecting it to the parklands outside.

“The courtyards are on the west side and the east side,” Hunt says. “They have shade blinds controlled via remote control to go out over the whole courtyard to protect the plants when it is really bright light.

“They are all plants the owner has nurtured in her greenhouse so we had instant gardens.”

The flexibility of the design allows the owners to close the house off when the wind picks up while keeping all the internal spaces

For Jack Freeman, a compelling interior should not look as though it was completed in a single shopping trip.

The founder and designer behind FREEMAN & CO prefers rooms that develop through art, travel, commissioned furniture and objects collected over time. It is an approach that treats the home less as a decorative project and more as an evolving portrait of its owner.

“I am a true believer in collecting versus decorating,” Freeman says.

That distinction underpins the international practice he has built across private residences, hotels, property developments, yachts and private aviation. Its projects stretch from Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay and Toorak to Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean.

Although the locations and architecture vary considerably, the work is connected by a restrained design language. Natural stone, warm timbers and sculptural furniture establish the foundation, while art, bespoke lighting and individual objects give each interior its identity.

The objective is not to overwhelm a room with obvious symbols of expense. It is to create an environment that feels calm, layered and particular to the people living within it.

“The greatest luxury isn’t about excess,” Freeman says. “It’s about creating an oasis where you come home and feel immediately grounded — effortlessly chic and deeply personal.”

Collecting instead of decorating

Decorating can imply the completion of a room: selecting the required furniture, filling the available walls and producing a coherent finished image.

Collecting is less conclusive.

A collected interior has room to change as its owners travel, discover artists, inherit pieces or reassess how they use their home. Its character comes from the relationship between objects rather than adherence to a single brand or season.

That does not mean placing unrelated pieces together without discipline. The designer must understand scale, proportion, material and provenance well enough to create a dialogue between them.

A contemporary artwork might sit beside a historic piece of furniture. A precisely detailed new interior may be interrupted by an irregular object made by hand. Smooth stone can be balanced by timber, textiles or a patinated metal surface that becomes richer with age.

The tension between those elements is part of the appeal.

For Freeman, art is not an accessory to be added once the furniture plan is complete. It forms part of the architecture and atmosphere of the room from the beginning.

Lighting is considered in the same way. Beyond its practical purpose, a bespoke fitting can operate as a suspended sculpture, changing both the room’s composition and the way its materials are experienced after dark.

A design perspective shaped by travel

International travel plays a significant role in Freeman’s creative process.

Design fairs such as PAD Paris and Salone del Mobile in Milan provide opportunities to encounter emerging designers, established galleries, new materials and collectible furniture away from the filter of social media.

More spontaneous discoveries can prove equally important.

“Sometimes it’s the simple things,” Freeman says. “That piece found on a shopping trip with a client in Paris, stumbling across an artisan’s workshop, or a special memory that forms the narrative of the story.”

Objects selected during travel bring more than visual interest into a home. They carry an association with a place, maker or experience, giving the client a connection that cannot be reproduced by ordering an entire interior from a catalogue.

Freeman’s influences are international, but his projects are not conceived as replicas of Parisian, Milanese or Californian style. Each commission responds to its architecture, setting, natural light and the daily lives of its occupants.

A waterfront Sydney residence demands a different treatment from a Mayfair townhouse. A Caribbean estate shaped by brutalist architecture and reflecting pools calls for another response again.

The designer’s role is to absorb those references without allowing them to overwhelm the individual qualities of the property.

Designing the complete experience

FREEMAN & CO extends beyond conventional interior decoration.

The practice’s stated services include interior design and architecture, project management, property acquisition, development advice, concept design, documentation, furniture and lighting design, procurement and art curation.

That breadth allows the team to become involved before a room’s dimensions and finishes are fixed.

Early participation can be important at the top end of the residential market, where architecture, landscape, interiors, technology and art must operate as one environment. Decisions about ceiling heights, wall dimensions, sightlines and lighting can directly affect where art is installed or how custom furniture is proportioned.

The practice can then carry those decisions through to procurement and final installation, maintaining the design narrative as a project moves between architects, builders, specialist craftspeople, dealers and suppliers.

Its residential portfolio includes a South Coast retreat conceived as an escape from urban life, a Caribbean estate with reflecting pools, an East Coast-inspired Palm Beach residence and a Mayfair townhouse organised around an expressive drawing room.

The studio also says it has worked on highly tailored Sydney residences with values exceeding $100 million, although the private nature of such commissions means individual addresses and clients are not always disclosed.

A home that can keep changing

The risk in creating a perfectly resolved interior is that it can become too static — a composition that looks exceptional in photographs but leaves little room for life.

Freeman sees the home as something that should evolve with its owners.

“I love the evolution of design,” he says. “We are talking about people’s lives, and as they evolve, so too should their private sanctuaries.”

That evolution might involve adding art, reupholstering a significant piece, adapting rooms as a family changes or making space for objects gathered through future travels.

The original design needs to be strong enough to accommodate those layers.

This may be the clearest expression of Freeman’s approach to luxury. It is not simply access to rare stone, collectible furniture or commissioned craftsmanship. It is the creation of a personal environment whose meaning deepens rather than diminishes with time.

Fact box

Designer: Jack Freeman

Role: Founder and managing director

Practice: FREEMAN & CO

Base: Australia, with international projects

Project locations named by the practice: Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay, Toorak, Palm Beach, the NSW South Coast, Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean

Sectors: Private residences, hotels, residential developments, private aviation and superyachts

Services: Interior design and architecture, property development, project management, property acquisition, documentation, furniture and lighting design, FF&E procurement, interior dressing and art curation

Design philosophy: Collected, personal interiors shaped by art, craftsmanship, travel and enduring materials

Website: free-man.co

The west coast home with a zen-like sensibility

The most surprising feature of this Perth home is what you don’t even see

Jack Freeman believes the most compelling interiors are not decorated, but collected. The FREEMAN & CO founder creates layered, personal spaces shaped by art, travel and craftsmanship.