660 Bushlands Road, Hovea WA 6071

Some homes sit on the land. This one blends into it - the material palette reflecting the colours of the jarrah trunks and grass trees around it, so the house rests so quietly that from a distance, it barely registers, and the bush gets to be the main event. A private driveway winds up through the timber to arrive at a family home built for exactly this - for mornings that start with mist over the canopy, for evenings by the fire, for a life with more room to breathe than the suburbs ever offered.

4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms
1990-built brick and iron
Open plan kitchen/meals
Library and home office
Formal dining and lounge
Expansive parents' retreat
Spectacular N-facing deck
Pwd workshop solar panels
Stunning 5.2-acre block
Steps to Hovea Falls & NP

Step inside, and the appeal of a lateral plan is immediate. Shared living anchors the centre of the layout with adults' and kids' zones to either side, close enough to hear the household ticking along, far enough that everyone gets a bit of their own space. Formal living and entertaining lead through to a large principal suite, a deliberate arrangement that keeps this as parents' territory. New herringbone flooring melds with the original slate tiles underfoot, old and new working together to tie the whole plan into one cohesive whole.

The door people use most often sits on the southern face of the plan, opening straight into the kitchen - this is where the household comes and goes. The kitchen itself is fitted with timber cupboards painted white, a gas cooktop, an electric oven, a dishwasher and a large walk-in pantry with room for a second fridge and its own sink. Open living flows straight into a dedicated library - a space for reading and relaxation - its windows framing bushland out toward John Forrest National Park.

On a cold night, it's the slow-combustion fireplace that will pull the household in, curled up watching the weather move across the treetops outside. Come the warmer months, the big north-facing deck takes over, floating out over the bush like it's part of the landscape rather than bolted onto the house. Long lazy lunches, a birthday dinner that runs later than planned, a quiet drink as the light goes gold - all of it soundtracked by the incomparable Australian bush.

The principal suite doesn't hold back - a generous bedroom that opens onto the north verandah, a walk-in wardrobe with ample hanging space, and an ensuite with a tub, shower, vanity and separate WC. North-facing windows and glazed French doors blur the line between the bedroom and the bush outside, so waking up here means waking up to the view before you've even got out of bed.

Down at the western end, the junior wing holds two bedrooms, with a third tucked beside the library looking north. These rooms share a family bathroom with a shower, bathtub and vanity, and there's a powder room off the laundry - useful on mornings when the whole household needs the bathroom at once. A shopper's entry keeps the daily traffic of shopping, laundry and kids' gear away from the front of the house.

Out back, the powered Colorbond workshop is a flexible work and storage space - concrete floor, plumbing, and a lined room across one end - with its use limited only by need and imagination.

Since taking on the home, the current owners have worked through a quiet, considered run of updates - new floors, a modern neutral palette, brass hardware, black window frames and a slatted timber feature wall - the kind of changes that respect what was already good about the place. Beyond the interiors, the real drawcard is the 5.2 acres itself - towering timber, grass trees and genuine quiet. Hovea Falls are close enough to wander to on a whim, with schools, shops and sport still just a short drive away.

Space that doesn't feel manufactured, a house that gets out of the landscape's way rather than fighting it, a family life with room to spread out and get a bit dirty - it's rare to find all three in one place, rarer still this close to the city.

To arrange an inspection of this property, call Cheryl New on 0439 961 192.