Light swarms the spacious parlor of Djaduk Ferianto’s house.

Guarded by leafy old trees, the house of musician Djaduk Ferianto is hidden in the lazy embrace of Kembaran Village, Bantul, Yogyakarta.

The trees surround the two-story building and the front yard is shady and cool: a gentle breeze drifts through the garden. The front porch and entrance are natural stone and exposed brick, in harmony with the basic, natural feel of the surrounding community.

The veranda on the second floor features antique tiles of Djaduk collection.In the middle of the densely populated village of Kembaran, the house stands on over 400 square meters of land, and blends easily with the mood of the other residences in the area.

Built in 1994 by local architect Eko Prawoto, the house is more luxurious than its neighbors, but purposely designed to flaunt modesty, hiding its charms from street onlookers.

The terrace is tiled in greens with a lawasan-styled wooden furniture set and a framed antique poster reading “Sinten Remen”, which means “for whoever likes it”. Lawasan is a style of Javanese wood carving and batik, especially associated with Yogyakarta, revived at the beginning of the millennium and still trendy today.

The dining room with angkringan furniture setHospitality and openness are profound in the parlor, which has direct access to an open ceiling at the house center. The relaxing air comes easy when one enters the house despite the meticulous, almost fussy, attention to decor and detail, something that does not come from generic sketchbooks of lavish homes.

Lawasan furniture is strewn around the room, notably large structures that Djaduk calls “pedicab chairs”, which do indeed resemble pedicab seats. A piano sits at a corner of the living room.

Djaduk has collected ceramic tiles from old buildings in several cities across the country and the fruits of his harvest cover the floors of his home. The open ceiling at the intersection of the parlor, living room and children’s rooms brings light directly in the heart of the house. Beneath the pool of light lies a small pond with lawasan ornamentations and a sitar.

“At night the sound of the water in the pond is calming and puts you to sleep,” said the composer of the epic Soegija score.

A curvy-shaped ceiling cut-out above the libraryVigorous light floods the dining room, with its traditional long benches and a table that are commonly found at angkringan, the traditional food carts of Yogyakarta. At the backdoor, the wall facing the yard is covered with a matrix of antique advertising posters.

Brazenly fond of Javanese antiques, Djaduk collects these old posters and has them all over the house: even on his kid’s room door there is a room number plate from an old hotel. On the dining table, old glass jars offer local snacks. The dining room is a favorite place of Djaduk’s family and his friends.

Among the antiques in the living room, there is one incongruous painting that Djaduk likes most. A mother is carrying her baby; on her chest a message reads “I am Virgin”. “This was a present from my child for my birthday not so long ago. It is the Virgin Mary,” says Djaduk.

The chief of Kua Etnika puts musical instruments, old and modern, everywhere, with the most interesting placed on the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor houses a library and the master bedroom. It is pure “Eko Prawoto” with exposed roof beams, and a gushing flow of air and light. Illumination pours through the convoluted cut-out in the library’s ceiling.

The front terrace with “Sinten Remen” antique poster Djaduk in the master bedroom’s comfortable toilet
Likewise in the master bedroom, the walls do not connect with the ceiling while a large window overlooks the trees outside. “The house is designed to survive without air conditioning, a typically tropical house,” says Djaduk.

The bedroom is equipped with a comfortable, spacious toilet. Djaduk loves to spend time there and it is in this room, he says, that he often finds the inspiration for a song or composition.

The second floor leads into a veranda that connects the main house to the guest room in separate structure. The smaller house also functions as a garage with the guest rooms on the second floor. Along this walkway, one can enjoy the embrace of two old tamarind trees.

“I often spend the nights here, doing nothing, or talking to my wife or friends until it gets really late,” he says.

— Photos by Tarko Sudiarno