DREAM IT. DESIGN IT. DO IT.
A smart reinterpretation of the past and happy shades take this family home into a bright future
After nine months planning and six months building, this Californian bungalow in Melbourne is a fusion of contemporary living, kitchen and dining areas
Who lives here: Samara, a stayat-at-home mum; her husband Dan, managing director of an agricultural company; and their daughters, Eve, 6; and Lola, 3.
Style of home: A 1920s Californian bungalow in inner Melbourne that has played muse to a new addition. After nine months of planning, the build itself took a speedy six months to complete.
There’s a poetry to the design of this Melbourne family home. From the front, she reads as a typical Californian bungalow with distinctive pyramid-shaped pillars. But move further in and an artistic repetition of ideas and angles, an unexpected rhythm and colourful language spark delight. The ceiling is peach, people; beautiful, rosy peach. “The raked ceiling at the back is magnificent,” says owner Samara. “It pushed the envelope a little bit in terms of the budget, but it’s made the house.”
The peach ceiling forms one of two peaks that marry the new extension to the bungalow. The addition now fuses living, kitchen and dining areas while opening onto the garden. A kids’ bathroom, laundry and study nook have been slotted into the folds of the design. It’s the work of architect Monique Woodward of Wowowa Architecture, who has had fun transposing the best bits of the old home into the new.
DREAM IT.
When Samara and her husband Dan bought their bungalow in inner Melbourne, it was a deceased estate needing a lot of love. They completed a simple renovation focused on the basics to tide them over for the next five years while their family grew. Life with their two young daughters, Eve and Lola, quickly informed their brief for an extension. “Because we had two small children we wanted a home that would have a great entertaining space that could be separate from the rest of the home,” says Samara. The layout in the original bungalow was tweaked to contain the sleeping quarters and a kids’ rumpus room, while the kitchen, living and dining areas in the new build can be separately accessed and shut off from the more private areas at the front. Funnily enough, the light-filled bridge between the two has become a favourite spot for the kids to play. “It’s all very interconnected,” says Samara.