Hawthorn House
As a heritage residence with an unsympathetic 1990s extension, Hawthorn House has been renewed and revitalised.
The design has been expressed by two intentions. The first to consolidate the original building by restoring the original heritage features.
The second, to delineate the rear addition with a clear threshold and to provide a new modern heart to the new indoor/outdoor living areas.
The kitchen and dining table are joined in a gesture of communal family living as one would find in a Victorian country kitchen room, where cooking, dining and connecting with family and friends, all happen in the same space.
At the north end, the table extends to the double doors and a north-facing garden. Internal materials are based on natural timber, marble, limestone, leather and linen, while the colour palette provides a base of oche and tan with highlights of burnt orange, natural blues and greens.
From the rear, a timber and vine-covered truss, at first floor level, forms a balcony that overlooks the garden and also provides for views of the generous ground floor living areas.
The truss forms the conceptual heart of the project, complementing the floral and decorative fretwork of the original Victorian dwelling, in a modern and functional form.
This truss motif is repeated in a cantilever pergola that provides a vine covered sun shelter to the barbecue area as well as the deep green swimming pool below.
Hawthorn house re-forms the home as whole by clarifying new and old, and unifying the two parts. Architecture and interiors embrace the natural world, breathing new life into the indoors and outdoors in equal measure.
Heritage Bedroom at Hawthorn House
“The rear of the house clearly gives way to the new in a few cleverly orchestrated manoeuvres that stich the old to the new without diminishing either.”
“This alteration and addition thoughtfully responds to the layered history of the original house, while preparing for its clients’ future.”
Houses magazine, issue 89.
