Lustrous dark finishes are
softened with
mirrors, art and sculptural indoor plants in this
reimagined Subiaco bungalow.
Camera IconLustrous dark finishes are softened with mirrors, art and sculptural indoor plants in this reimagined Subiaco bungalow. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Viewers judge best home in Australia

Headshot of Arylene Westlake-Jennings

Lifestyle Home’s new property show I Own Australia’s Best Home sees interior designers Gillian Khaw and Tim Leveson, and architect Nick Tobias scour Australia to find our most stunning houses, meet the owners and live with them for 24 hours to experience the day-to-day wonder of living in style.

“When I first found out we were going to stay in the homes, I thought it was a bit strange, but once I did I realised how important it was,” Mr Leveson said.

“In order to critique a space, you need to be in the space for 24 hours because you really then begin to understand how it works for the people who made it.

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“And that’s the premise of the show – it’s not about having the most expensive home, it’s about the people who created it and how they have created the perfect space for living.”

In each episode, three spectacular Australian homes will be the stars of the show, with the presenters extolling all the great features that make the residences so special.

The decision then lies with the viewers, who will vote after each episode to decide which of the three houses goes through to the final.

At the end of the season, episode 10 will see the nine finalist residences judged by a top-secret panel of industry experts to determine which will be crowned Australia’s best home.

“All the homes have their merits and it’s a pretty hard thing to give an opinion on which is the best,” Mr Leveson said. Among the highlights for him was running through a full-sized maze in the backyard of a 16ha property in Byron Bay and waking up in the Northern Territory to a view of dingoes.

One of his most memorable experiences happened at the NSW homestead of Heath Harris, one of the world’s elite horse trainers.

“He had me in the ring with a pretty wild white mare showing me how to get the horse to rear up on its back legs; it was crazy,” Mr Leveson said.

In that same episode, his fellow presenters travelled to WA, staying in a 1937 Art Deco bungalow in Subiaco with a magnificent two-storey extension, as well as a rectilinear structure of smooth concrete and large glass panels in Quindalup in the south-west.

See the first three contenders on Wednesday at 6.30pm on Foxtel’s Lifestyle Home.