Perth's 'Disco House' hits the market with a $3m+ guide

Blame it on the boogie. The disco, with its Saturday Night Fever-styled dance floor of groove-inducing, coloured flashing lights, is pretty much the first thing anyone mentions when they talk about this 1976 Besser-block masterwork from the late Bulgarian-born Perth architect Iwan Iwanoff.

It’s there even in its slightly irreverent tag of Disco House.

It is, however, more conventionally known as Marsala House, after Tina and Sergio Marsala, who commissioned Iwanoff to design their family home in the Perth suburb of Dianella – a lookout with panoptic views of the hills and city.

“You can’t go in there and not just love it,” say the high-profile vendors, artist Stormie Mills and PR/marketing dynamo Melissa Lekias. “It’s so much fun.”

While it does give the heritage-listed house – which retains many original design elements – a certain vintage vibe, both are quick to point out the property isn’t some kind of ’70s theme park or glam throwback.

“It really is about the architecture,” says Lekias, a devotee of the architect’s work who previously lived in an Iwanoff-designed property owned by her uncle. “It feels like you’re living in an artwork more than a ’70s period piece.”

From the driveway, you see what she means, most notably in Iwanoff’s renowned idiosyncratic use of concrete blocks for the facade and balustrade of the external central staircase. It’s a design feature reminiscent of a Mayan temple and popular with kids.

Both a little cubist and brutalist in its makeup, the sculptural play of brickwork stands out, literally and figuratively, creating depth and drama as the fierce Perth sun moves across it. “It’s inspiring and foreboding,” says Mills.

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Iwanoff’s eye for structure and form is equally on show inside, in the detailed timberwork and tiling, for example, as well as features such as the drinks bar and light fitting in the formal dining room. But as artful and well crafted as it is, the place also plays superbly to the twin modern priorities, when buying any prestige home, of lifestyle and luxury.

There are multiple dining, living and entertainment areas indoors and out, a pool, a spa, landscaped gardens and those oh-my-god views.

Mills says the communal living spaces, with their sunken lounges, are easily adaptable to different moods, whether it’s for partying (there have been some), snuggling down or recovering from a hangover.

“[Today’s] houses tend to dictate to you how you feel and where you should be [whereas] this house does it the other way around,” he says.

The house, one of Iwanoff’s most celebrated works and the youngest home on the State Register of Heritage Places, was restored in 2010, and Mills and Lekias then added their own aesthetic flair with an extensive cosmetic makeover.

This included retrofitting the Vegas-inspired disco with a DJ booth and sound system, where Mills cranks out hip hop, reggae and dubstep more than disco.

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38 Sycamore Rise, Dianella WA 6059

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The couple is now hoping new custodians (“rather than buyers”) will introduce their own design appreciation – although Mills’ pink bunnyman sculpture on the front lawn and Lekias’ collection of ’70s bespoke pieces can be included in the purchase.

“Like all good works of art, [the house[ should be constantly evolving,” says Mills.

Danielle Geagea of Zsa Zsa Property is selling the home with a guide of $3 million+.