Estruct featured in Home Beautiful

A picturesque slice of Melbourne’s inner west

In a picturesque slice of Melbourne’s inner west, a white picked fence and freshly clipped lawn are the charming prelude to this family home.

The beach is just a stone’s throw away and the salty air sets a distinctively layback tone – this is a street where kids play together and adults actually exchange cups of sugar.

The family bought the cottage in 2005. At just 56 square meters, it had modest proportions but it was on a much bigger block. Add early 20th century features into the mix and it had the makings of a dream home.

Cut to today and the weatherboard is as lovely as ever, with leadlight windows that still catch the light, just so. But where the house was once quaint and rickety, it’s now spacious and solid, yet every bit as sweet.

“We bought the house because it was a pretty cottage in a street of pretty cottages, but we know it had the potential to be more”

The home needed to be brought in line with the family’s penchant for cooking, dining and relaxing outdoors. They worked with building designer Tina Lindner and builders The Estruct Group to realise their vision, taking the spirit of the old coastal cottage into every detail of the restoration and expansion.

On the ground floor, the home was extended to include an open plan kitchen, dining and living area, as well as a bedroom, bathroom and sitting room. The house was also extended upwards to accommodate two bedrooms and an extra bedroom. The new pitched roof and weatherboards are so in sync with the original parts of the house, it’s as if they always were meant to be there.

Inside, the decor finds common ground between antique wares and modern design. The finished home is a true exercise in compromise, proving that different styles can sit at ease together.

Written by Anna McCooe