Small house, big ideas

Dan and Leah Gayfer’s house looks little from the front, but step inside and it just keeps on going. Extending, meticulous space-planning and clever glazing has made it light, open and super-functional

-  VANESSA RICHMOND

Open-plan space

The ground-floor living area is made up of three connected spaces: a seating area, central kitchen and a dining area. ‘The layout aims to encourage everyday interaction between all the areas,’ explains Dan.

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Dan Gayfer and his wife, Leah Hyland, live here with their children, Clementine, five, and two-year-old Goldie. Dan is an architectural and interior designer; Leah is a communications manager.

THE PROPERTY

A three-bed terrace in the suburb of Fitzroy North, Melbourne, Australia.

THE VALUE

Bought for Aus$550,000 (£309,487) in 2009; now worth about Aus$2million (£1.12million).

Dan and Leah were excited to stop renting and buy their first property, but the state of the house was a hurdle. ‘It wasn’t exactly love at first sight,’ says Dan. ‘But, from a design point of view, I could see the potential to renovate it.

‘It was a typical Australian Edwardian brick-built house with a weatherboarded post-war lean-to at the back. Other than the two front rooms, we demolished it, including the lean-to, a timber carport.’