MISSION IMPECCABLE

A sprawling Spanish-style home receives a striking reboot starring a significant art collection.

- Words CHRIS PEARSON

A flamboyant celebration of the Spanish Mission style, this grand condesa in inner Melbourne is in the pink after an inspired makeover by interior designer Carole Whiting. It respects a glamorous past while embracing an equally exciting, if more colourful, future. And, in that, art remains firmly in the picture.

When the owners bought the five-bedroom home in 2020, they were seduced by its fabulous features, relics of its days as a consulate, including cornices, ceiling roses, ornate internal doors and stained-glass windows, all blissfully intact. And there was no shortage of space - a cavernous ballroom at the front and a previous extension at the rear took care of that - so much so the daredevil owner has rollerskated through those rooms! Yet despite its prestigious past, the home was far from perfect.

"It was certainly beautiful, with everything we want in a home, calming with a wonderful energy and in solid, triple brick," says the owner. "But it was all so open, with that huge front ballroom, and so cold." Its neutral decor failed to fire the imagination and, despite the noble facade with its sweeping arches and portico, a bare, gravelled front yard dulled any sense of arrival. In short, it needed a personal touch.