FAMILY TIES

After finding this sleek Mid-Century home listed online, Zuster’s Fleur Sibbel discovered an added attraction: it had been built by her own father more than 40 years before.

- Carli Philips

Fleur Sibbel, co-owner and managing director of furniture company Zuster, first saw this house late one night when she was scrolling through real estate listings online. Curious, she made an appointment for a viewing which confirmed her suspicions: the 1970s house was originally built by her father, Meyer, part of a family of builders who migrated to Australia from Holland after World War II.

Sibbel Builders was renowned for its high level of workmanship and forward-thinking ideas, such as siting homes with a northerly aspect, installing concrete slabs with hydronic heating and limiting excavation in order to preserve sites as much as possible. Indeed, Heritage Victoria acknowledged the company as being ahead of its time in terms of environmentally friendly building.

“When I first saw the house online I suspected it may have been one of Dad’s projects – all Sibbel houses had signature features with consistent elements: rectangular door handles, crown-cut timber, flat roofs, timber-clad walls and handcrafted built-in furniture,” says Fleur. “The original owners of this particular house sold it to a family that had plans to demolish it and build a McMansion, but things didn’t pan out for them – luckily for us! It was just so timeless and had glass looking out all across the north.”

Fleur and her family – partner Simon Ansell, children Chloe, 23, Willem, 18, Gracie, 11, and Harvey the cockapoo – moved into the home in 2016 and renovations got underway the following year. “We lived in the house throughout and just room-hopped as we went. It was really important to be on site every day,” says Fleur. All through the process, she worked closely with her sister Wilhelmina, co-founder and creative director of Zuster, and her father.