Vision Splendid

A smart combination of old and new has given this turn-of-the-century house a fresh personality.

- Nerida Piggin

Living in a penthouse apartment in Darling Point with spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, Dennis and Joan Rabinowitz decided to look for something larger to accommodate their growing family. “We started to look in the same area, not being quite sure what we really wanted,” he says. They had seen a semidetached house built in 1910 that had been on the market for some time. It was in a great position but was in a very bad state of repair.

The grey stippled facade reminded Dennis, an architect, of war-torn buildings on the border of Germany and Belgium, though he liked the fact that the rear of the house looked over the harbour. The other half of the semi had been demolished, leaving the house freestanding. Dennis approached the owner and the deal was done. “The house was in a very good position – close to shops and transport which was perfect. There was no garden but I didn’t want a garden anyway,” he says. Dennis and Joan had lived in London for several years before they came to Australia and “enjoy cosmopolitan living”.