Dip into the history of Australia’s postwar suburban architecture and you’re certain to summon images of basic brick houses. Plain and practical.
It’s what greeted Leeton Pointon Architects + Interiors when they first took on the renovation of this Melbourne home, but they’ve taken the blocky, dark and inward-facing building and, determined to avoid demolition, focused on its redeeming features: solid bones, high ceilings and a decorative wrought-iron balustrade.
Tucked into a cul-de-sac, the house had an unusual orientation and its size was disproportionate to that of the generous backyard, replanted with native lilly pillies and tulip trees by landscape designer Sophie McLean.
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An extension was repositioned to face north and wrapped in steel-framed glazing to capture light from every direction. ‘The idea was to create a contemporary “garden room”,’ says Michael Leeton, director of Leeton Pointon Architects+ Interiors.
Lined in concrete with a robust awning as protection from the harsh summer sun, the extension strikes a ‘delicate balance between mass and weightlessness’ for owners who, explains Michael have a ‘love of the Californian Palisades vibe’.
Designed as a true family space that’s well-suited to entertaining, the home’s layout is motivated by a philosophy of ‘the more the merrier’, with the team at Karyne Murphy Studio specifying furniture crafted from warming oak and in welcoming shades of blush-pink and inky-blue.
‘There’s light, sun and air with views to the surrounding garden,’ explains Michael of the overall effect of this home. ‘It’s a nurturing and supportive environment.’ leetonpointon.com; lbaconstruction.com.au
