This house is all about sophistication on one hand, and connection with play and a child’s mindset. The grand scale of the house sprawls over three floors with significant grounds. The bones of the existing Victorian home were retained and restored, the 1970s extension demolished and replaced with an open living room, and kitchen and dining space designed with dark veneers and textured marble to ground it with the feeling of solidity. The large open plan living zone now connects with the pool, tennis court and garden areas.
A children’s zone was designed with play equipment and small doors opening between bedroom walls, and a secret first floor trap door where children can climb through the roof space and access the suspended net play area above the rumpus room, with a spiral slide allowing direct access to the rumpus room. The parents’ zone in the existing Victorian part of the home has retained the original detailing with new materials chosen for their subtle texture and tones. All spaces are grand in scale and proportion so the interior has been designed as insertions within these rooms, often not scaling from wall to wall or floor to ceiling, but rather being the more submissive aspect of the rooms and respecting the existing Victorian fabric.
Designed as an urban oasis for a busy family, the internal planning allows for both separation and communal gathering. Here, the existing Victorian proportions and detailing have been respected and embraced, with new additions stitched and intertwined to create cohesion between the eras and made to last another century.
