Worlds Away
A Sydney property’s glamorous, global-inspired makeover.
Having lived in New York and London, Sharon and Paul, the owners of this house on Sydney’s North Shore, could never be content with the ordinary. Behind its neat picket fence, their freshly renovated home boasts a United Nations of inspiration that evokes their glamorous past. Lured by the generous backyard, the couple bought the property in 2013 as a forever home. But the block was occupied by a Federation brick cottage that had lost face. A renovation in the 1960s had stripped its original features, inside and out. Meanwhile, a clumsy rear addition had little connection with that sizeable yard.
“The roof leaked, the paint was peeling and we had damp issues,” says Sharon. “It was an eyesore next to the cute cottages along our street.”
The couple engaged Clare Carter of Contemporary Architecture and interior designers Jacinta Woods and Sonia Warner to transform the battered bungalow into a light, functional and interesting family home for themselves and their sons Leo, five, and Levi, two.
Top priority was an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area that flowed through to the garden. A nod to Sharon’s past was also on the wish list. “I grew up in a weatherboard homestead in rural New Zealand, so an all-white cottage with a picket fence was my nostalgic dream.” At the rear of the home, cues came from the couple’s travels. “In New York, we lived in a renovated loft with unbelievably high ceilings. The steel windows and doors came from London, the concrete floors from a friend’s apartment in Antwerp.”
Clare revived the facade with heritage-inspired ironwork, stained glass panels, sash windows and a Colorbond roof. “These details made the house cute again,” says Clare. Meanwhile, the 1960s rear extension made way for an unapologetically modern addition. Smart steel-framed sliders connect its open-plan living areas with the garden.
The transition between the two sections is dramatic. Cottage cosiness at the front of the home gives way to openness at the rear, where there is a double-height raked ceiling and stairs leading to the first floor.
Flanking the entry hall are three bedrooms and the boys’ playroom. The new section, stepped down from the original house, features an open-plan kitchen and living area that soak up garden views beyond those steelframeddoors.Thehighceilinginthekitchenispunctuated with a skylight and a splashback window, adding to the airiness, as does the adjacent all-weather barbecue area.
Ingeniously cantilevered over the living room is the main bedroom suite – Paul insisted he didn’t want a support wall to obstruct sight lines and interfere with the openness of the open-plan space. The first floor also contains an additional bedroom, making five all up.
For the interiors, the brief was “just five words – ‘Brass. Steel. Concrete. Timber. Marble’,” says Sharon. The trick was tying everything together. Furniture, soft furnishings and artwork were woven into the scheme to create zones that are inviting and tactile. “With two small boys in the mix, everything had to be robust and family friendly too,” says Jacinta.
Jacinta and Sonia’s ‘structural palette’ subtly darkens as it moves from the white facade – a heritage requirement – via pale blue-greys to moody charcoal in the open plan. Bursts of vibrant colour, from mustard to red, coral and aqua, energise the spaces.
As well as New York lofts, inspiration came from the UK designer Kit Kemp, says Jacinta. It’s especially
“SHARON AND PAUL LOVE THE‘ G LAM INDUSTRIAL’ LOOK, BUT EVERYTHING HAD TO BE FAMILY FRIENDLY TOO .”
Jacinta Woods, interior designer