A transformational and refined renovation to bring character, texture, and intimacy to a period family home in Elsternwick.

The reinvention of this family home, last renovated in the 1990s, drew on an imaginative selection of materials and new accents that complimented the beauty and personality of the period residence.

We took the rear half of the house back to its bones, and reconfigured the layout to create more generous and impactful living, dining and kitchen areas tailored to the client’s style of living.

Textured materials, a soft tonal palette and deft architectural interventions, such a lowering of bulkheads over the kitchen and library walls, ensured that the space felt warm and welcoming despite its expansiveness.

To balance generous ceiling heights, we played with scale in oversized furniture and decorative lighting. Expansive steel-framed glazing provided a new appreciation of the garden outlook, and a new glazed entrance introduced more afternoon light.

In the bathroom, a layered material palette imbued the space with a poised yet lovely family quality, which doesn’t feel too sleek or precious.