Salute To The Sun

A 100-year-old Sydney home has been rejuvenated with a thoughtful renovation that delivers lashings of light, privacy and views into the treetops.

- Elizabeth Wilson

When an anonymous note was left in the letterbox of this house congratulating the occupants on their clever renovation, they were understandably chuffed. It arrived just days after they’d moved into their restored beauty on a corner block near Sydney’s Centennial Park, earlier this year. “The note said they’d watched the renovation every day and they love what we’ve done,” says the owner. “It was so nice. We’ve kept it pinned to the fridge.”

There is a lot to admire about this beautiful home, which is now gleaming after a full-scale revival and extension. Originally built in 1914, the rendered brick residence had only changed hands a couple of times before the current owners purchased it in 2017. But by that time, the house had seen better days. It needed rewiring, new plumbing, a new kitchen, the ceiling was collapsing in a front room … the maintenance list was huge. The owners, a young professional couple who’d just returned from London, had plans to start a family and aspirations to create their forever home.

“Rather than moving in and trying to make it liveable, we decided to bite the bullet and look for an architect straight away,” says the owner. She reached out to an old school friend, architect Carla Middleton. “The house was very dilapidated and needed a lot of work – but what an amazing blank canvas it was,” says Carla of her first impressions of the place.