Style Revival

Restoring this charismatic Federation home presented certain challenges, but the designers discovered they could incorporate some of its 80s renovation quirks.

- Chris Pearson

While its spectacular view of Sydney’s ‘coathanger’ has remained solidly constant over the years, this imposing Federation house, in brick with shingle-clad upper levels, has not shared the same fate. When the owners first laid eyes on it, a 1980s renovation had left its calling card, compromising the wonderful heritage flourishes and adding dated touches of its own. The palette, too, had a serious case of the beiges.

Returning from a stint in Singapore, the professional couple with two teenage children bought the three-and-a-half level home on the lower North Shore in 2017. Spellbound by the quintessentially Sydney aspect, they were also charmed by the home’s generous proportions and period features, such as its lofty ceilings, cornices, and painted frescoes on the dining-room doors. But the renovation had also left arched windows at odds with the original architecture, as well as raw brickwork, cream carpets and faux stained glass that mimicked the original windows elsewhere, all of which were de rigueur in the 1980s. Similarly, the country-inspired kitchen, with honey timbers and black granite benchtops, looked decidedly undercooked. On friends’ recommendations, they hired interior designers Sarah Marriott and Dani Hans of Sarah Jayne Studios, together with Laurie Liskowski of Liskowski Architects, to breathe new life into the home.

“This amazing heritage property was in need of updating and added warmth,” says the owner. “We required help to modernise, yet we wanted to retain many of the original period features to make this beautiful and elegant house a truly great family home.”