Warrick House

Ascot Vale

A four-bedroom timber Edwardian, kept where it counted. The facade, the first rooms and the period detail that gives the house its character all stayed; behind them, the home was reimagined entirely — contemporary, generous, and made for a family intending to spend the rest of their days in it. The architecture is the work of Mitsuori Architects, with whom we had the great pleasure of collaborating: theirs the design of the spaces, ours every single thing within them — each paint colour, the drapery and carpet, the joinery, every finish, and every piece of furniture, art and object in the house. What an honour it was to produce this magnificent home.

The new rear volume — battened timber ceiling, highline glazing, dining beneath arc pendants, the garden beyond — Fig I.The new rear — the Mitsuori volume, dressed by OJD

The formal lounge — the original overmantel restored and painted white, green velvet chair beside it, commissioned Michael Bond artwork — Fig II.The original mantel, kept and restored

The pressed-metal ceiling of the formal lounge with a new brass chandelier beneath it — Fig III.Pressed metal above, new brass below

The pieces

Nothing carried over. Nothing left to chance.

Every corner was curated: furniture ordered custom from the likes of Jardan and planned piece by piece for its place, lighting from Pop & Scott, and art commissioned for its walls — Michael Bond in the lounge, Jasmine Mansbridge in the dining room, Antoinette Ferwerda in the main bedroom. The furnishing ran outside as well — the outdoor rooms done with the same care as the rooms within. The brief asked for high-end luxury with warmth: a home the family could admire and love, and still live in easily, without being precious about any of it.

The casual living room — green leather Jardan armchair by the glass, Pop and Scott pendants, magnolia in bloom beyond — Fig IV.Jardan, planned for this corner — Pop & Scott overhead

The casual living joinery wall — timber shelving with lit bar nook, kidney-shaped coffee tables on a rust rug — Fig V.The joinery wall, with the bar tucked in

The kitchen — matte black joinery, grey stone benchtop and splashback lit from beneath the overheads, timber column — Fig VI.The kitchen — black, stone and timber

The dining room — a commissioned Jasmine Mansbridge artwork above the credenza, timber table beneath arc pendants and the highline of sky — Fig VII.Jasmine Mansbridge art, commissioned for this wall, under the highline of sky

The outdoor lounge seen through the glass from the dining table — grey outdoor sofas and timber, an Amy Wale vase of natives in the foreground — Fig VIII.The outdoor room, through the glass — furnished with the same care

The main suite

Colour came from the house itself.

Each room’s scheme was drawn from what the walls already held — keyed to the stained-glass windows, to the original fireplace tiles — so every new thing sits in conversation with something old. Nowhere more than the main suite: an Antoinette Ferwerda piece, commissioned for the room, hangs beside the stained glass whose colours it carries, and a battened timber walk-in robe stands quietly beneath the pressed-metal ceiling.

The main bedroom in full — the commissioned Antoinette Ferwerda centred above the bed, arc lights either side, stained glass glowing through the shutters at right — Fig IX.The commissioned Ferwerda piece connected to the stained glass beside it

The bedside as a still life — a trio of hand-built Amy Wale vessels on the timber side table, books below, the signed corner of the Ferwerda above — Fig X.Every cushion considered — the vessels by Amy Wale

The main bedroom in full — the white-painted original mantel at left, the bed beneath the Ferwerda, stained glass and shuttered windows beyond — Fig XI.The suite in full — the original mantel keeping its corner

A black steel-framed glass door opening to the walk-in robe, battened timber joinery beyond, original mantel at right — Fig XII.Steel and glass into the robe — the old mantel retained

The walk-in robe — battened timber joinery and mirrored robes beneath the pressed-metal ceiling — Fig XIII.The robe — battened timber under pressed metal

The objects

Commissioned, down to the last vessel.

The furnishing of a home runs all the way down — past the sofas and the drapery to the objects that live on its shelves and bedsides. For Warrick House we commissioned a series of pieces from local ceramicist Amy Wale, collaborating closely on exactly what the home needed: her beautifully designed vessels thread through every room, from the dining table to the kitchen bench to the trio beside the bed. It’s a service we love — sourcing, commissioning and placing every item, so that nothing in the house is an afterthought.

A speckled hand-built Amy Wale vase of native flowers on the dining table, the commissioned Jasmine Mansbridge behind — Fig XIV.Pieces by Amy Wale — art, Jasmine Mansbridge

Two dark hand-textured Amy Wale vessels on the stone bench — a bowl of limes and a jug — Fig XV.Hand-built for the kitchen

Through the house

The old hall opens onto the new world.

The original arched hallway — pressed ceiling, George Nelson pendant — runs straight into the battened timber of the new volume, the threshold between eras crossed in a single step. Beyond it, the family bathroom carries the palette into grey: microcement, black steel and a floating timber vanity.

The original hallway restored — pressed ceiling and pendant — opening into the new battened-ceiling volume beyond — Fig XVI.Transition from Edwardian to now

The family bathroom — freestanding tub by the window, black-framed glass shower, floating timber vanity with stone top — Fig XVII.The family bathroom

Before & after

Kept where it counted. Begun again behind.

The house was taken back to its frame — the pressed ceilings and pendants floating intact above the studs — and rebuilt around what mattered. Retaining those pressed-metal ceilings was a project within the project: every room’s canopy kept, repaired and repainted. The rooms that follow are the same rooms, before and after they were given their next life.

The hallway during works — pressed-metal ceiling and brass pendant intact above the stripped timber frame — The hall, down to its frame

The hallway restored — pressed ceiling and pendant above, the new volume beyond — The hall, given back

The formal lounge during works — pressed ceiling and chandelier above a stripped room — The lounge, as it was

The formal lounge finished — the same bay window and shutters, Jardan sofa wrapping the corner beneath the commissioned Michael Bond — The lounge, made new

The original timber overmantel mid-works, surrounded by site dust — The overmantel, waiting

The overmantel restored in white beneath the retained pressed-metal ceiling and stepped cornices — The overmantel, back at work — in white, beneath the ceiling that stayed

Planning something like this?

We design and manage renovations end to end — and collaborate with architects to carry interiors from first finish to final cushion.

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