Homeowner Diaries: giving a heritage bathroom a modern twist

ArchiPro’s new Homeowner Diaries series follows homeowners’ renovation journeys to discover where their inspiration comes from, what they've learned along the way, and their advice for others. First up, we speak with one of ArchiPro’s own, editor Cassie Doherty.

Cassie has a speech that she gives each visitor to her home on the grand tour, a story about the original owners of the home – a fisherman and his wife, and their 10 children. The 1907 villa is certainly steeped in history, and through extensive research, planning, and careful consideration to the final details, the home’s recent bathroom renovation is a perfect blend of past and present.

While colourful towels and accessories bring a pop of colour to the space, features such as the clawfoot bathtub and board-and-batten ceilings give a nod to the home’s long history.

“It’s a 115-year-old house and I think that this bathroom used to be a bedroom. There was an outhouse that got demolished in the 1920s and at that point it must’ve been when they brought the bathroom inside,” explains Cassie, who shares the Northcote Point villa with her husband and daughter.

“A lot of people have had a go at doing a lot of things since then. Some kind person had previously done insulation for us, which is really awesome,” she says.

“Someone had put some nice fixtures in at some point, but they were starting to date and the shower was starting to drip and droop and all sorts of bad things. At one point, we had to duct tape the hand wand so that it would stop falling out of its stopper. At that point we thought, okay, let's do this.”

Fortunately, the layout of the space already worked well, and while some previous owners had dabbled in some not-so-great DIY work, it was a perfect starting point.

“Because it’s such an old house, we really feel a sense of responsibility to not do anything stupid to it,” laughs Cassie.

Before any work in the space commenced, Cassie and her husband made sure they had a clear vision – thanks to countless hours spent dreaming, planning and researching.

“We tend to do a lot of research when we renovate and put a lot of thought into everything. We use mood boards, get samples and ask advice from professionals, so I feel like we really are sure before we actually make any decisions.

“It’s also quite good to live at the house for a little while beforehand. We would’ve chosen quite a different design and different finishes if we just got stuck into it straight away.”

A lot of the design choices were made around making the most of the room’s 3.4 metre high ceiling.

“It's such a beautiful villa and because it's got that height, I feel like it can pull off some bold design choices,” says Cassie. The shower’s Eternity Marquita marble-look porcelain tiles from Tile Depot that stretch from floor to ceiling is one of those stunning statements.

“We thought it might be really dominant in the room, but we knew it was a really bright, sunny room. A surprising result of using the black tile is that you're in the dark enclosure of the shower, looking out to the bright bathroom, and that gives you a very cocooning feeling.

“The black and white seems bold but it’s quite a neutral base so we could change out the stool and towels and give the room a very different feel.”

And this is Cassie’s key piece of advice for any other homeowner embarking on a villa restoration project: to use a neutral base palette and incorporate colour and bold choices that can be easily switched out for something different.

“We also highly recommend a wall-mounted vanity, it makes a really surprising difference to the open feeling of the room.”

Next up on the list for Cassie and her husband is the landscaping, with the same design goal – to pair modern style with the home’s beautiful heritage features.

Words by Cassie Birrer

• Leck Electrical
• Dulux
• Elite Bathroomware
• Mr Ralph
• Plumbline
• The Tile Depot