My Architect

In this, the first of an occasional series in which writers on design talk about their own homes and working spaces, Habitus’ Melbourne correspondent, Stephen Crafti, discusses the make-over of his home by architect, Robert Simeoni.

After nearly 30 years, writing on architecture is second nature. But when the subject is your own home, being objective takes on a different meaning. The 1930s duplex that is now my home, couldn’t have been more rudimentary when purchased in 2011. Rented out for decades, the building’s sickly pale yellow rendered façade was as unenticing as the spindly garden, comprising concrete and a few weeds. Developers were eyeing the South Yarra block for demolition. My partner and I saw something else. Subsequently, so did architect Robert Simeoni, and furniture and lighting designer, Suzie Stanford.

“It was virtually intact, with a quiet elegance to the building,” says Robert, who has been on my radar since I first covered his awardwinning house at Woolamai in 2005. It was his fine handling in bringing together two disparate buildings, an 1880s Victorian cottage with a striking contemporary wing, that left me breathless at the time. But I was equally impressed with his quiet and contemplative manner, which had led me to write about many of his other projects over the years, including his own house, a masterfully updated Italianate villa that received an award from the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Instead of getting distracted with finishes, our discussion centred on ideas from the outset. The home that had stood out most for my partner and I on our travels was Maison de Verre in Paris, by architect and furniture designer, Pierre Chareau.