Residential

Secret Garden

Designed for a young family, this small garden feels far greater than its footprint suggests. Every inch has been thoughtfully resolved. Plants, steel, brick and timber are layered to create depth and texture. In the front garden a water feature, home to a resident native frog quietly bubbles away, adding to the sense of the peace that the garden creates.

Year

2025

Year

2025

Location

Cottesloe, Whadjuk Country, Western Australia

Location

Cottesloe, Whadjuk Country, Western Australia

Team

Studio Barker

Team

Studio Barker

Photography

Ridwhaan Moolla

Photography

Ridwhaan Moolla

Architectual wood-furniture in front of plain grey wall

Secret Garden

Secret Garden

The home itself is heritage listed, built in the Spanish Mission style in the late 1800s. Its warmth, expressed through terracotta tile, timber and brick, informed the palette of the landscape throughout. Borrowed views across the gardens of the Cottesloe Civic Centre extend the sense of space well beyond the property boundary, making the garden feel quietly expansive.

A gravel path runs down the side of the house, flanked by beds of thriving shade-loving plants, before opening into the back garden. Here, a raised concrete pool sits at the heart of the high-walled courtyard, catching the light and drawing the eye from the kitchen and living spaces beyond. Above the car space, a vigorous passionfruit vine has claimed the arbour entirely, casting shade and producing an abundance of fruit each summer.

The home itself is heritage listed, built in the Spanish Mission style in the late 1800s. Its warmth, expressed through terracotta tile, timber and brick, informed the palette of the landscape throughout. Borrowed views across the gardens of the Cottesloe Civic Centre extend the sense of space well beyond the property boundary, making the garden feel quietly expansive.

A gravel path runs down the side of the house, flanked by beds of thriving shade-loving plants, before opening into the back garden. Here, a raised concrete pool sits at the heart of the high-walled courtyard, catching the light and drawing the eye from the kitchen and living spaces beyond. Above the car space, a vigorous passionfruit vine has claimed the arbour entirely, casting shade and producing an abundance of fruit each summer.