Fiona MacLennan, Ken Norrish and Family
Homes
24th April, 2013
Dining area in the incredible WA home of Fiona MacLennan, Ken Norrish and Family. Danish Glass on late 1940's Australian blonde sideboard. Polished concrete, 1950s chairs Moller teak and Bertoia diamond. Photo by Angelita Bonetti, production / styling by Anna Flanders for The Design Files.
Open plan living / dining area. Photo by Angelita Bonetti, production / styling by Anna Flanders for The Design Files.
Entrance hall. Huge French vintage poster. Photo by Angelita Bonetti, production / styling by Anna Flanders for The Design Files.
North facing protected timber terrace/deck. Photo by Angelita Bonetti, production / styling by Anna Flanders for The Design Files.
I'm always very excited to share a WA home with you all - I know they're few and far between around here, but with the amazing assistance of Perth based stylist Anna Flanders and photographer Angelita Bonetti, we're slowly but surely working in a few more incredible WA homes into the TDF mix!
Today's amazing family home comes to us from the Yallingup Siding region, which is on the West Coast of WA, about 3 hours South of Perth. It's the home of one very creative family - Fiona Maclennan, Ken Norrish and their son Mackie.
Ken and Fiona share a passion for great design, and have each made their livings from sourcing and selling beautiful furniture and homewares, and renovating homes together in the WA area. Fiona grew up in a design family, and has lived with beautiful design pieces all her life. Ken has been an antiques dealer and obsessive restorer / renovator since his teens, whilst Fiona has always been more drawn to mid-century design and Japanese pieces. (She still runs occasional Japanese ceramic pop-ups called 'Momo Home' in the Margaret River region.) Apparently Ken is quite well known around Fremantle and Perth, particularly for his big Tuscan-style renovations in the 90's, which were well documented in various interiors magazines such as House & Garden at the time!
Despite having renovated and sold many homes together, this is the first home that Ken and Fiona have built from scratch. 'This is our first new house, built after many renovations and restorations' says Fiona. The pair selected this block of land for its mix of native bush and the Northern outlook to the bay. 'We could build here without destroying bushland, and were able to design with big North windows for view and solar gain, which is rare in WA, as most views tend to be Westerly, with hot afternoon sun issues'.
Having previously lived in a lightweight old beach house, in designing this home, Fiona and Ken became 'a little obsessive' about thermal mass, keen to ensure they would have lots of thick dark concrete floors absorbing winter sun. First and foremost, this house was designed to suit the site, with functionality in mind - but an important influencing factor was also to create a space that would complement the incredible mid 20th Century furniture both Fiona and Ken have collected over the years. Indeed this space certainly does seem to strike the perfect harmonious balance between efficient contemporary design and classic mid-century style.
Massive thanks to Ken and Fiona for sharing their stunning home with us today, and to Anna and Angelita for capturing it so beautifully!
Loungeroom. 1970's B&B Italia sofa. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Peter Matulich bus stop drawing/painting. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Dining looking through to kitchen. 'Our interpretation of a modern country kitchen / dining area, with an outlook over trees to Geographe Bay' says Fiona. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Kitchen details. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Loungeroom detail. 1950's fiberglass chairs by Lawerence Peabody. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Loungeroom reverse. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Bookshelf detail - 1960's Porsche 906 tin toy. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Loungeroom. Joss Gregson painting, 1950's fiberglass chairs by Lawerence Peabody. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
North facing protected timber terrace/deck. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Master Bedroom. Recycled local Tuart timber, Moroccan rug. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Bedroom details. Japanese kokeshi dolls sit on 1954 Danish Moller sideboard, and 1950's Roger McLay ply Cone chair. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Mackie's bedroom. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
Main bathroom. Raw cedar, glass mosaics and terazzo floor. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
North facing protected timber terrace/deck. Photo - by Angelita Bonetti, styling - Anna Flanders.
