With high ceilings, attractive timber detailing, and a classic use of materials, houses designed around 100 years ago had a lot going for them. That's apart from one important thing – due to small rooms, poor connections and limited light, they were unpleasant to actually live in.
This house, by Paul Leuschke of Leuschke Kahn Architects with residential developer and project manager Andy Blyth of InsideOut Ltd, achieves the best of both worlds – a grand traditional exterior with modern, open-plan interiors.
"First the existing single-level house was dispatched on the back of a truck," says Leuschke.
"Then, with the site clear, we followed Andy Blyth's brief for a large two-storey family house with classic street appeal – contrasted by an airy, light-filled interior with plenty of room to move."
Setting the new home over two levels created views to the city from the upstairs spaces. It also meant the home is on show to passers by. The original, low-set house had no street presence – only its roof was seen from the pavement.
With an old-school, wrap-around verandah, white weatherboards, a corrugated iron roof, dainty filigree trimming and turned rail posts on the verandah, the exterior has a classic face. The only clues to the home's contemporary nature from outside are its over-sized windows, to maximise views, and the deep verandah – old houses have slender wrap-around walkways.