Waverley House

Essendon

A brick Victorian for a beautiful and busy family of five — retained at the front, reimagined at the rear. The original rooms and their grand ceilings were kept; behind them, the entire back of the home came down and rose again as one grand open room — the new hub of the home. The result is a particular kind of arrival: down the long original hallway, the house opens all at once — kitchen, butler’s pantry, laundry, dining and lounge gathered under one roof, warmed by a central brick fireplace on a custom designed concrete hearth. Designed and delivered end to end, ready for this family to enjoy for many years to come.

The new kitchen — black-stained oak and spotted gum cabinetry, polished concrete benchtops and a caramel fluted tile splashback, looking through to the butler's pantry under a skylight — Fig I.The kitchen, looking through to the butler’s pantry

The island — ribbed spotted gum beneath a thick polished concrete benchtop, the fluted caramel splashback glowing behind — Fig II.The island — batten spotted gum beneath the concrete

The oven tower in black-stained oak, the fluted caramel tile lit from above — Fig III.The oven tower in black-stained oak

From the island across to the butler's pantry — one palette carried through both rooms — Fig IV.One room giving quietly onto the next

The new fireplace — dark brick chimney with an inbuilt wood fire and a long cast concrete hearth floating past the garden window — Fig V.The new fire, on a hearth designed and poured to match the benches

The palette

Chosen together at the beginning. Held to the very end.

Spotted gum, polished concrete, black-stained oak, imported tiles in chocolate and rust, flax linen, black clay bricks for the fireplace and Australian-made wool carpet — natural, organic materials wherever we could reach for them. The palette is earthy, evocative, warm and inviting. The outcome, just as we planned.

The Waverley material palette laid out on the polished concrete floor — spotted gum, black-stained oak, fluted caramel tiles, brushed gunmetal, linen and bouclé — Fig VI.The palette, on the floor it was chosen for

The same care ran into the smallest rooms. In the ensuite, a gold-veined marble slab floats on spotted gum joinery — the kitchen’s language, made fine. The cabinetry throughout was a labour of its own: recessed pulls cut into the veneer, grain matched door to door, every piece made to meet its stone or concrete precisely.

The ensuite vanity — a gold-and-grey veined marble slab over spotted gum drawers with recessed timber pulls — Fig VII.The ensuite — gold-veined marble on spotted gum

Through the walk-in robe to the ensuite — spotted gum robes giving onto the floating marble vanity and slate floor — Fig VIII.Walk-in robe to ensuite

Before & after

The front stayed. Everything behind it changed.

The house arrived a gracious Victorian with a dark, pine-lined kitchen and dining room at the back — low, closed, cut off from the garden. The heritage face was in fantastic condition and worth preserving; the tired 1970s renovation at the rear was to be completely removed and reimagined.

The original kitchen and dining — pine-lined walls and ceiling, dark slate floor, a small white peninsula kitchen — The original rear — pine, slate and a closed little kitchen

The same footprint reimagined — the new open kitchen in spotted gum and concrete, looking through to the butler's pantry — The same ground, opened to one room

A note on the front

We didn’t touch it.

The polychrome brick, the cast-iron lacework, the bullnose verandah — a gracious Victorian face, left exactly as we found it. Not every good decision is an intervention. The work was all behind it; the street still sees the house it always was.

The retained heritage facade — polychrome brick Victorian with cast-iron lacework and a bullnose verandah, left untouched — The heritage front, untouched

The making

The front held its history. The back began again.

An early concept visualisation of the new rear — the clad box, the wall of sliding glass, drawn to help the clients picture the space before a wall came down — Fig IX.Concept visualisation — the rear, drawn to dream the space up

Behind the retained facade, the original rear was demolished in full and rebuilt as a single open room.

Concrete carries the whole project. The slab was poured knowing it would be the finished floor — the polished surface in every photograph is the structure itself, protected through the entire build. The same material rises into the new hearth and runs the length of the window seat, engineered to hold that weight across the span and colour-matched to the kitchen benches: floor, fire, seat and benchtop, custom designed by us and executed by our brilliant trades. A huge concrete undertaking, with planning and management to match.

Outside, the garden follows the same hand — recycled brick beds rising around the finished architecture, designed as part of the whole.

The rear elevation nearing completion — spotted gum and black cladding above recycled brick garden beds taking shape — Fig X.The new rear of the house, garden underway

Planning something like this?

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