Victorian Boom Style
This locally listed, mid-Victorian Italianate mansion had been built on a grand scale to showcase its timber merchant owner’s success. Broken into flats in the early 20th Century, it never really recovered until the current family made it their labour of love. The job has been done in stages over several years. Our involvement included heritage consulting, design and project management. The first stage was to move them in and to make the almost derelict building habitable. The second stage involved internal and external works. Works were often highly technical required engineering and heritage building expertise. Interesting components included the reinstatement of the widow’s walk and the design of a brass handrail for the gallery, the central feature of the house. New kitchen and bathrooms were followed by reinstatement of the basement rooms to connect with the garden. An engineering feat of excellence allowed a driveway, pool and lawn to be incorporated into the landscape. The finishing aesthetic reflects our design philosophy of using contemporary elements which share the same language as the original. It is once again a family home which honours its eccentric Victorian boom-style vibe.
We thoroughly recommend Modern Heritage Matters. We really appreciate how important it was having the skills and expertise of Mandie and Susanna on our restoration and modernisation of our local council listed heritage house. They were always available to us, were more than willing to spend as much time as needed on various aspects of our restoration, consistently showed consideration of our limited budget, and always presented us with the full range of options available, Susanna’s design are quite simply amazing and both Mandie and Susanna possessed a vision of the final project that was modern, comfortable and so much more exciting than we had dared dream. They navigated us through council to get the approvals, consistently designed beautiful spaces, always found the best team for the various jobs, saved us time and money, and always had an attention to detail that made our renovation top notch. Beyond this they also helped us grow in our appreciation of heritage architecture. We would not hesitate in recommending Modern Heritage Matters to anyone who is facing both the challenges and loves of a heritage building.
Ashleigh and Aiden O’Loughlin
“Roslyn”, Coogee, NSW
