HOLLYWOOD MOMENT
A Tudor-style period home in Melbourne receives a spectacular and meticulous renovation with a distinct Southern California style
HE CHANGING FACE OF HOUSING in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak tells of a shift in generation and culture. No more mock tributes to mother England in these blue-chip blocks. A new wave of modern abstraction and historical fiction is rolling in to replace architectural anachronisms that were once wealthy Australia, which brings us to this riverside house. Formerly a ‘Tudorbethan’ mansion manifesting the architectural affectations of ‘Merrie Olde England’ — pitched roofs, half-timbering and herringbone brickwork — the four-level structure was recently ‘magicked’ into Spanish Mission. “More like, it slowly metamorphosed,” says project designer and founder of SJB Interiors, Andrew Parr, adding that its reinvention consumed two full years. “We totally ripped it apart and fabricated Spanish Mission as it might be seen in the Hollywood Hills.” He refers to the revivalist colonial style of Californian architecture that was inspired by the institutional structures built by Spanish missionaries in the 19th century. This contradictory mix of restrained stucco construction, Mexican Churrigueresque ornamentation, a hint of Gothic glamour and calculated bursts of colour expresses in one of Parr’s favourite places, the Chateau Marmont, or ‘the Chateau’, as locals call the legendary West Hollywood hotel. Though modelled on a French chateau in the Loire Valley, this golden 1920s preserve — where the glitterati like to get into trouble — is a mocktail of Gothic camp, Mission minimalism and French noblesse that fits with Parr’s school of raffish glamour. It’s not such a stretch from mock Tudor to Spanish Mission, says Parr, explaining that the two styles peaked in historical tandem and taste for ceiling beams. But he declares the version presented to him was pug-ugly, inefficient in plan and painted in the worst pale blue ever. “It was camp in a bad way,” he says of this four-bedroom clifftop property, bought for its wraparound views and private jetty launch to the Yarra River. “The brief was to make it pretty, but first we had to address the weird extensions, a bay window blocked in during earlier renovations and a stair that ran right back up there.” Parr points to an ignominious corner of a newly timber-panelled vestibule through which a stone stair now arcs, its sculptural sweep bound by forged-iron balustrades befitting Norma Desmond’s descent into madness in the 1950s film noir Sunset Boulevard. It exudes a tough theatricality and an air of exotic historicism that is pure Hollywood. “That is exactly the impression I wanted to create,” says Parr, detailing the structural work required to replan an irrational progression of rooms into free-flowing spaces spoking off this hub. “I wanted it to feel as if it had always been there, but not in an outdated manner that made no sense to modern lives.” His commitment to authenticity (albeit to a contrivance) and the contemporary realities of family life — the clients have two adult sons heavily involved in sport — recast the rustic white kitchen in modern Spanish Mission. Solid timber drawers were stained to match the beamed timber ceiling; the wall tiles were hand-cast in keeping with the revivalist format; conservatory-style walls of glass were installed to take full advantage of river views; and an outdoor entertaining room was realised around the colour-burst geometries of the revivalist Spanish Mission floor. ››
this page, from top: ‘Domain’ pendant lights from LIGHT ON LANDSCAPE. ‘Grigio Cenere’ 600x600mm honed marble tile flooring from ARTEDOMUS. opposite page, clockwise from top: American Oak timber flooring; BAKER FURNITURE ‘St James’ sofas from Cavit & Co; THERIEN & CO armchairs; JEAN DE MERRY ‘Luna’ side table; OLY ‘George Console’ from Coco Republic. Light on Landscape custom chandelier. Floatacious (2014) by Australian artist MARTINE EMDUR.
« In the main reception room, Parr poetically framed the river views with Mission-style arched windows and matched their retro curves to Deco tub chairs. The wider decorative booty, which he bagged in LA’s La Cienega design quarter, are all reproductions, he says. “The mirrors and the lights look as if they could have been lifted from an old MGM backlot. I would send pictures of the pieces to the client, who was totally on the same page.” Insisting that Spanish Mission is tough and eschews too much refinement, Parr stripped all walls back to brick (before replastering with stucco), reclad the roofs in terracotta, recast the chimney pots and replaced a 1970s kidney-shaped pool with a steel tank. “It was major,” he says of the 20-metre pylons engineered into the property’s cliff face to carry its on-view steel bulk. “The house has a rear elevation that is read from both river and distant freeway.” Repositioning the top-level main suite to the building’s river edge, Parr dressed it in an equally resilient luxury, making teal blue the sole accent tone. “Multicolours are not consistent with Spanish Mission,” the designer notes, then he considers the absurdity of his attempts to authenticate a style that is, after all, Hollywood’s rewrite of history. “In the end, I must remind myself that it’s all a fiction.” Visit sjb.com.au.