Clover House

As children grow into teens and young adults, a family’s needs change – and, as a result, family homes are ever evolving. Clover House by Studio Whiting, set in the verdant Melbourne suburb of Malvern, is a potent example of the power of design to transform an interior to complement its residents. Clover House is home to a family of six, including four young adult children. “We rejuvenated and revitalised the house and brought better amenities to the home for a more adult population,” says Carole Whiting, founder of Studio Whiting. To adapt the Edwardian home, Whiting focused on reimagining the divide between public and private spaces, and introducing new storage and facilities, all without altering the footprint. Shared living spaces occupy the ground floor, while more private spaces – such as bedrooms and bathrooms – are housed upstairs. The entrance leads to a spacious hallway and a generous living-dining space, which was previously a series of smaller rooms. The open kitchen flows into an informal living space, and a more intimate formal living area is separated from the communal entertaining space by modern, steel-framed glass doors. The entire ground floor is visually united through the use of Tongue & Groove engineered European oak timber flooring in a Bistre Classic Grande finish and format, introducing a sense of welcome warmth. The timber floor and the recurring Calacatta Vagli Stone elements work together to create an elegant, tonal palette with focus on limed blonde tones. “A big part of this project is the timber flooring, and we were specifically looking for that tone that would marry beautifully with the timber veneer and the grey tones in the paint,” says Whiting. “The floor is recessive, but the feel underfoot is just as important. You want to be able to pad around in bare feet and have that connection to the natural timber.”