Modern Alchemy

The chemistry between the introspective hallways and the extraverted visual gestures throughout this grand residence is undeniable.

- Lindyl Crabb

This page Custom glass and steel doors by Dylan Farrell Design are cleverly aligned to allow natural light to pour through one space into the next. A custom pendant in the corridor meets a graceful ‘Bijout’ chandelier by Serip. Opposite page The ground-floor garden room is framed by French polished ebony walnut door jambs and custom quarried white and smoke marble floors. Stools from Orient House surround a custom aged-oak table. The Guaxs vase on top is from Conley & Co. To the front, a 1960s Palwa chandelier in brass and glass from 1stdibs; behind, a ‘Bijout’ chandelier.

Staged across three levels, the interiors of this Melbourne home dance in a choreographed display of giving and take, extraversion and restraint, movement, and stillness. One moment you’re gliding through near-empty hallways designed with balletic lightness and the next you’ve waltzed into an exquisite formal living room with a cocktail of burnished brass, curvaceous velvet and a pistachio onyx fireplace beneath a chandelier studded with selenite wands.

Behind this magnetic aesthetic alchemy is designer Dylan Farrell, who was engaged to orchestrate the interiors of this brand new build when the property “was still a dirt hole”. The owners, a couple with two children, envisioned a residence reminiscent of Melbourne’s stately Victorian architecture, but without the austerity and stuffiness of a traditional turn-of-the-century home. “They wanted the grandeur to feel fresh and contemporary, which is why I was referred,” Dylan says. “I understand how classical architecture works but at the same time I’m not afraid to bend the rules.”