In the heart of Jakarta – a city often defined by its intensity – Winfred Hutabarat has built a quiet world of his own. Behind walls of timber, concrete and tropical green, his modernist home offers a striking counterpoint to the rhythm outside: open-air living spaces drenched in morning light, intimate corners wrapped in warm wood, and a sense of calm that feels almost cinematic. As one of the creative forces behind The Union Group, the hospitality entrepreneur has spent decades shaping the city’s dining and cultural landscape. But here, in a home conceived with architect Andra Matin, a more personal story unfolds as he talks with his Australian tailor Tom Riley about architecture, memory, and the evolution of a city finding its own voice.

TR: Hi Winfred. So, how do we know each other? We were doing a PJohnson trunk show in Singapore and Winfred turned up with a friend and said, “Hey, come to Jakarta.” That's where it all started.

WH: And the rest is history.

TR: Yeah, we [P Johnson] started coming to Jakarta and found it so exciting. You welcomed us into this city, and it's been great, you know? We've been really lucky to be able to be introduced into this city. It’s now the biggest city in the world according to the UN – 42 million people or something. And it's kind of cool, because we're close neighbours. We feel like Australia and Indonesia should be better connected, so it has been great. We've been coming for 10 years now. So, tell us a bit about what you do, Winfred.

WH: I'm in the food and beverage business. But beforehand, I went to school in the US, and then when I finished graduate school there in 1998, I came back to Jakarta, in the middle of the Asian international crisis. In 1998 was when Indonesia – previously an authoritarian country – became a democracy. There were a bunch of us who came back from the US then, and you basically could do the sort of normal things that people who return from university do. It was chaotic and unstable. Very unstable. Long story short, I decided to open a bookstore called Aksara with my friend Irene. We went to high school together, lost touch but became friends again in the US. We had that for a few years, and then a space above the bookstore became available, and my current partner in the food and beverage business was interested in opening a café above the bookstore. So, we embarked on that project. The business started growing and we decided to close the bookstore during the pandemic to concentrate on food and drink.

TR: And you guys have kind of created the cosmopolitan scene in Jakarta. You’ve brought back what feels like a bit of a thirst for other places, and trying to pull Jakarta up onto its feet in a cultural sense, it seems.

WH: Yes, but it's not just us. But we were one of the earlier operators in Jakarta. Before that, dining and drinking were usually done in hotels. We were part of the first wave of independent restaurants where people could drink, dine, and socialise in one space.

TR: Impressive. It’s made a huge impact. And tell me about your house. I visited your house for the first time maybe nine years ago, and it's a beautiful modernist conception. Who's the architect?

WH: The architect is a dear friend of mine. His name is Andra Martin. Actually, our first project with him was the bookstore.

TR: Oh, wow.

WH: So, I was introduced to Andra by Irene. She had met him at a party and immediately knew she’d found the architect who would do our bookstore. Since then, we've become very close friends. I had been living in my parents’ house, which had an empty block of land next to it. We'd been thinking of what to do with the land and when I met Andra, I decided he would be the right person to realise a house that I wanted to build. The design process started in 2002.

TR: What inspired it? Was it a conversation between you two, or did you give him free reign?

WH: Sort of. He was one of the early contemporary architects in Indonesia. The conversation started because I grew up in my parents’ house, which is called the Tropical House. The living areas are very open with exposed gardens, and the sleeping quarters would be air-conditioned. The initial idea was to continue that same design idea, so that when you're inside, you feel that you're surrounded by gardens. And then at the same time to have more private areas upstairs.

TR: And the little dining room at the back is beautiful too. It's very like a Danish Hoogly, you know? Really contained with no windows – the opposite to the main house.

WH: Exactly, that actually came later. We started construction in 2005 and then it took two years to build, so it wasn’t until the end of 2006 that I actually started living there. That back dining area, which is very enclosed, was actually a service area before. It was converted into a second dining area, maybe 10 years after I began living in the house.

TR: It's so comfortable with the timber paneling – such a nice contrast to that beautiful open-plan glass side.

WH: Yeah, we thought it would be nice to have another dining-living area that was more private than the very open living and dining area at the front.

TR: Was that sort of architecture something new in Jakarta?

WH: It was. I think this so-called contemporary trend started in the late 90s, so this was one of the earlier houses that looks different to most of the houses in Jakarta.

TR: Yes, it’s outside the normal vernacular. What's your favourite part of the house?

WH: I really like the fact that when you wake up, the bedroom is quite enclosed. And then you walk out of the room and go down the ramp, and encounter very green, very open space, with a lot of sun coming in. That’s my favourite activity. It kicks off the day.

TR: It's almost like a gangway, that ramp. It's amazing because you sort of descend down into light from somewhere quite comfortable and cozy. It's a beautiful shape.

WH: Thank you.

TR: What do you love about Jakarta? You know, for me, coming here for the last 10 years, it's been such an amazing experience. The city just seems to accelerate at an incredible rate, but it's also comfortable and not conceited in any way. You still live here after all these years.

WH: For me, it’s a beautiful city. From the outside it can even feel a bit harsh at times, but it’s a city that is capable of things.

TR: It's got its own heartbeat, doesn't it? It seems happy to me, here. It seems comfortable with itself. A lot is brought back here from people who have gone abroad and thought, “I'm going make this great”.

WH: More and more, what's so exciting is that there is an evolution. Before, people would just sort of bring something from abroad and then copy and paste it here. But now, they always put their own twist on it. Even in architecture, it’s got its own feel. Even if it's modern – if it’s contemporary – it has a voice that makes it quite unique on its own.

TR: It's spirited. I really find it spirited as a place. The city seems to have a lot more sort of joy about it – and a kind of thirst for progression. It's really cool.

WH: And even though we don't have many visitors, Jakartans are always very open to people who visit.

TR: Yeah, it’s so welcoming.

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