Inner glow

Reinvigorated for robust family living, this Sydney house has a soft centre that is warm and nurturing encased in its crisp architectural lines.

- JUDY PASCOE 

With its warm colour palette and welcoming open fireplace at its heart, this home on Sydney’s lower north shore lives up to its appellation, Hearth house. Reimagined by designers Juliette Arent and Sarah-Jane Pyke of Arent&Pyke and architect Luigi Rosselli the former Federation house retains little of its last-century attributes but looks to a bright, dynamic future. When the owners bought the house some years ago it had already undergone a renovation in the early 2000s, but it was not conducive to the contemporary lifestyle requirements of a family of six, lacking a cohesive flow or any separate areas for the teenage sons to entertain friends.

In addition, a recreational computer room was needed as well as a shared study for the parents. Engaged for a redesign, architect Luigi Rosselli strove to honour the previous renovation by Virginia Kerridge and reconfigured the existing floor plan to offer the family more amenity, rather than increasing the footprint. He added a new balcony at the front of the house leading off the master bedroom that enhances the shingle and sandstone facade. Two bedrooms and a formal lounge near the entry were converted to a lounge and pool room for the teenagers that opens to the garden, and all sleeping quarters were relocated upstairs. A sunken lounge with an open fireplace was cleverly crafted from the former enclosed garage that had separated the old and new parts of the house. It now serves as the focal point of family life, connecting with the kitchen and dining area as well as the pool and garden updated by landscape architect Myles Baldwin. Within the revitalised structure Arent&Pyke then set to work on the interior architecture and design, adding their special magic.