GOLIGHTLY GABLES- Point Lonsdale, Victoria by Freckle Architecture

PROJECT TYPE: SINGLE STOREY RENOVATION

LOCATION: POINT LONSDALE, BELLARINE PENINSULA

BUILDER: GOLIGHTLY GABLES

PHOTOGRAPHY: STEPH MCGLENCHY

There are renovation projects that come along once in a while that are simply transformational and Golightly Gables is one of those. A home that began its life as a humble traditional brick home synonymous with the 60s, Golightly Gables underwent a metamorphosis that brought it roaring into modern twenty-first-century family life.

Set on a generous 3.5 acres of land, Golightly Gables went from having a home with great bones and a footprint of just under 140m2 to an expansive family home of 222m2. This allowed for a floorplan that centred around a generous and voluminous kitchen, dining and living area with bedrooms, bathrooms and workspaces flowing off the new hub of the home.

Bringing the old house and the renovation together is the gable roof design. The extension of the traditional hip and valley roofline allowed for a striking ceiling height in the main gable, home to the kitchen, dining and living areas. The more than double-height ceiling over the kitchen is a full-length v-groove wall accentuating its height and cleverly providing a textural link into the living-dining space - and also conceals a bijoux bar hidden behind bespoke v-groove doors that seamlessly blend into the feature wall. A perfect accompaniment to a bespoke kitchen with sage green cabinetry accented with pops of gold hardware that mirrored the colour palette of the mature gums and flora that hug the block in all four directions.

In the home’s original carnation, only two rooms were afforded the sun from the north, and after its reorientation, the major living spaces are now regularly bathed in natural light from the north. With made-to-order commercial sized double-glazed steel windows over a bank of large sliding doors, natural light now streams into every corner of this new open-plan area.

The entrance relocated from the west to the north allowed the family home more privacy, positioned away from the shared westerly property entrance from the road. The generous office at front of the home (in the new wing) has its own external entrance allowing employees their own access without entering the home and providing that much-needed separation required in a home-office environment. The inclusion of large windows to the west and north in the office allows homeowners to track vehicles arriving on the property for their business.

Right behind the office in the west wing, is the main bedroom suite that feels more like a day spa, giving the homeowners that much-needed sanctuary at the end of the day. Just like the main bathroom, in a nod to the home’s former life, roof rafters from the existing house were upcycled and used as vanities and feature shelving.

The unification of old and new continues with the oak herringbone timber floor anchoring the kitchen, living and dining with two wings of the home which further accentuates the sense of flow and space in the home.

Without tampering with the existing living quarters a great deal, a renovation and addition were achieved that breathed modern life into a family home that is now more in tune with the client's lifestyle as well as the plot of land it’s built on.

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS: