Shadow play

Gently dappled and filtered natural light has a powerful presence in this Melbourne home

- CARLI PHILIPS

In a suburb flush with cafes and bustling shops, nothing stays secret in Melbourne’s Prahran for long. Yet tucked in between a web of meandering backstreets is a grassy gem of a park with a towering Moreton Bay fig tree, playground and generous space for dogs to run free. While open to anyone, it’s mainly frequented by neighbours with a friendly, community atmosphere. It’s a little intimate idyll and was the main drawcard for homeowners Dominic and Lacey Ziino. “It’s so well hidden and green, and because it doesn’t face any main roads it’s only known by the locals,” explains Dominic. “Having this asset on your doorstep in this suburb is extremely rare and the main reason why we purchased here.” Less appealing, though, was the house itself, which was ultimately demolished and re-built from the ground up.

Dominic, a local real estate agent, was familiar with interior design and architecture practice Mim Design through work, and engaged them to fulfil his and Lacey’s brief for a home that drew on mid-century principles, engaged unique natural stone and emphasised natural light and cross-flow ventilation. Wedged in a tight residential pocket, creating internal generosity on a relatively conservative site was key. “Its tight footprint offered us an opportunity to think creatively about how to best use the space,” says Lisa Ransom, associate interior designer at Mim Design, who worked alongside the studio’s architecture director Luca Vezzosi.