IN THE zone

A Melbourne home is redesigned for contemporary family life, but with a strong nod to its Victorian past.

- STORY Chris Pearson | PHOTOGRAPHY Shannon McGrath

For Andrew and Megan, the owners of this handsome home in Melbourne's south east, three's a crowd.

So they asked Matt Gibson of Matt Gibson Architecture + Design to provide them with a trio of discrete zones - a retreat for the adults, another for their two teenagers and a communal open plan. And each totally separate. That part of the brief was set in concrete, in more ways than one.

But there was plenty to love when the couple bought the Victorian double-fronted bungalow, bedecked in Hawthorn brick, back in 2007. "It had classic bones - you could feel the history of the house," says Andrew. The front was blissfully intact with cornicing, marble fireplaces, three metre-high ceilings, ceiling roses and stained glass, together with sash windows, a tessellated verandah and a sweeping bay window. But the rear sported a jarring 1980s two-storey addition that had been "barnacled on", says Matt.

Andrew and Megan waited 10 years, in that time giving serious thought to how they wanted to live in their home with two girls (now 17 and 14). Then, having admired his handiwork with heritage buildings, they approached Matt. "They liked how we combine inside and out, and maximise natural light," he says.