Drama class

A joyful, light-filled terrace in Sydney's Inner West is as distinctly individual as its colourful owner

- CHRIS PEARSON

With her grandmother's kimono on her bedroom wall, her grandfather's bookshelves and a sunny artwork that reminded her of home when she lived in the Big Apple, this terrace in Sydney's Inner West has a special resonance for its owner, Jenny. Reflecting her job in theatre, it's imbued with her bubbly personality - and, yes, a little drama, too.

She bought the home in 2004. “I loved the harbour views and light streaming in,” she says. An '80s renovation had produced a bright rear extension and a third level in the attic space, but also a few oddities. “A stained-glass window in the bathroom opened to the main bedroom and there was a raised sandstone garden bed in the kitchen under a skylight,” she says.

From 2011, she moved to New York for a decade. On her return, the terrace looked tired and its granite benches and black bathrooms dated. Its quirks had begun to jar.