This striking 1930’s Deco Californian bungalow is situated in Menora’s heritage precinct, with its tree-lined streets, expansive verges and heroic two-storey walk-ups. The owners wanted a contemporary addition including a new master bedroom, laundry, bathroom, kitchen and living area, without compromising the look and feel of the existing home. They also loved the beautiful established backyard, and wanted to make better use of it with the new section of the house.

Our design retains the majority of the existing house, effectively hiding the modern extension from street view. This judicious approach also kept costs down and allowed the owners to use higher quality finishes for the interiors. We maintained the sense of grandness they loved as well as the Deco aesthetic of the house with a palette of chromed metal, black gloss surfaces, red face brickwork, white gloss steel and rich timber finishes. The new section is extensively glazed and allows the owners to enjoy views of the gorgeous magnolias, chestnuts and camellias of the backyard. It also drops down a level from the framed floating timber floor of the original house, giving a real sense of ‘returning to ground’ when walking barefoot between the two.

Angled support columns give the new outdoor space dramatic perspective which draws the living areas into the garden. The new verandah’s framework also helps to unite the new section of the house with the outdoors: in time the garden will quite literally become part of the home as climbing plants grow along the cabled steel. We also kept the home’s established rose bushes safely off-site during construction and relocated them – with pride of place – to the new entry planter.