Turning Corners

A turn-of-the-century terrace house in Sydney has taken on a curvaceous new persona with a softly feminine and whimsical update by Arent & Pyke.

- Judy Pascose

Having viewed in excess of 100 properties while searching for the right one, it was pure serendipity that the owner was driving down the street when this 1890s terrace in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was open for inspection. “I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, but I loved the exterior of this house. As I walked through I got more and more excited as I knew it was just what I wanted,” she says. “It was a lovely home but it had the potential to put my own personal taste into it eventually.”

Originally a Sydneysider, the owner had lived in Melbourne for several years but decided to move back to be closer to family. Once purchased, she lived in the property for three years before starting the makeover. She had been following the work of Arent&Pyke for years so naturally they were the interior designers she turned to. The terrace house had been extended and modernised at some point but “it had not been well designed”, says the owner. “There were awkward areas that didn’t flow and didn’t work.”

With four adult children living independently it was an opportunity for the owner to express her personal style and step away from the type of houses she had lived in previously. “I wanted to create a place for my family to come together but I didn’t need to worry about practicality being the number one priority.”

Her brief to Juliette Arent and Sarah-Jane Pyke was for an inviting, elegant and glamorous home with a sense of humour. “I wanted functionality, not practicality,” she says.