His & Hers

It took the owners of a lovely but tiny and deteriorating two-bedroom weatherboard cottage in Melbourne’s tree-lined Fairfield 15 years to renovate. One of them was imagining a sustainable transformation from day one. His partner was reluctant and feared losing the humble scale and heritage feel that drew them there. But their kids couldn’t share a bedroom forever, and they agreed to bite the bullet before their eldest hit secondary school.

By that time, as fate would have it, they had a close family connection who was an architect. The pair trusted her to design a suitably subtle transformation – barely visible from the street – with the sensitivity and restraint to ensure it felt like it had always been there.

“This was a rustic old place that was beautiful in its rustic-ness, but it wasn’t ideally suited to us,” the client recalls. They wanted a thermally comfortable all-electric home with more flexible spaces they could all enjoy. “Sustainability, from my perspective, is being able to live in a place as efficiently as possible,” he says. Repurposed materials were a priority, as well as joinery that could be repurposed again at the end of its life. Working largely within the building envelope would maintain the garden space they cherished. The rear was slated for a similarly nuanced makeover by Sarah Perry Garden Design, which would increase biodiversity and introduce edibles and chooks while maintaining established trees and a sweet cottage-style woodworking shed.

Anna Rozen of A for Architecture seems supremely unfazed by the multiple constraints that shaped her design response. These included her clients’ contrasting feelings about renovating, differing design sensibilities, and the proximity to the house of the expansive yellow gum that gives this project its name. “It’s a beautiful tree and they feel very connected to it,” Anna says. “It constrained how far we could go out, and we had to be careful about the root zone. But now it feels like the house is nestled underneath it, and the tree is really featured.”

All agreed to upgrade the heritage elements at the front and replace the rear kitchen/living area with a contemporary double-storey addition to open the heart of the home to the garden. Functional requirements were clear too: separate bedrooms for the kids, a rustic studio for her, and an acoustically-treated office for him, with a Murphy bed for sound daytime sleeps when he’s working nights. Nooks for reading, play and nature connection. Hard-working spaces with zero waste, inside and out. Updated bathrooms rather than ensuites, giving kids and parents the option to swap sleeping zones down the track.

As it turns out, blending his love of modern minimalism and hers of rustic wabi-sabi wasn’t as hard as it sounds. “She loved the feel of the old home and was nervous about … ending up with something that felt modern and out of place at the back,” Anna says. “It helped that I knew them both so well and … understood what was special about the old house so we could bring that in.”

She “took a soft touch” with original front rooms, creating separate bedrooms for the kids with fresh paint, beautiful spotted gum floors and exquisitely detailed joinery by Kitchen Domain. These warm natural features flow through to the contemporary rear, harmonising old and new. Thermally leaky spaces were sealed and transformed with high-performance insulation and glazing. Relocating the bathroom made way for a multipurpose studio for work, music and sewing. Distressed lining boards and repurposed lights maintain the rustic vibe.

At the rear, the voluminous new kitchen, dining and living space is a calm, quiet knockout. “They wanted timeless materials that didn’t shout,” Anna says. Spotted gum bookcases and daybed nooks are adored by the family of avid readers. Extensive glazing frames and opens to the garden in all directions. Upstairs, the new master and office/night-shift bedrooms feature glorious treetop vistas. A play zone includes a concealed attic used for everything from home gym to jigsaws and sleepovers.

The craftsmanship and attention to detail of Blueprint Constructions is evident throughout, including the rustic façade of reclaimed B-grade bricks (topped with weatherboards, again harmonising old and new). Blackbutt framing is stained to match the spotted gum within.

Both clients are overjoyed with the results. “We built this around the tree and we get all these different views of it,” she says. “I love sleeping with the bedroom windows open, watching the morning sun coming in and hearing the birds in the tree. The addition doesn’t take up any more room than it needs to, and every room gets used by everyone.”

“Gumnut House is a contemporary addition,” Anna says, “but it’s continuing the story of the front house rather than adding a modern box on the back. With clients who had very different ideas … it was about finding balance and compromise, so they both felt like they were getting what they wanted.” •