When most people think of Melbourne’s heritage homes, they picture Victorian terraces, Federation villas or Californian Bungalows. But a newer chapter of our architectural story is now firmly on the heritage radar: the mid-century modern home. Built roughly between the late 1940s and early 1970s, these homes brought clean lines, open plans and a genuine…

A knock-down rebuild lets you stay in the street and suburb you love while getting a home designed entirely around your family. But one of the first questions every client asks us is: how long will it take? The honest answer depends on your block, council and design – but there’s a predictable sequence. Drawing…

Step inside a well-preserved Melbourne period home and you’ll notice it immediately: deep skirtings, moulded architraves, panelled doors and floorboards that have mellowed over a century. Period joinery and timber floors give heritage interiors their warmth and sense of craftsmanship – and they’re among the details we love working with most. Whether you’re restoring an…

Melbourne’s period homes are loved for their character, but many were built for a very different way of living. When families outgrow a single-storey Victorian, Edwardian or Californian Bungalow, going up is often the smartest way to gain space – especially on tight inner-suburban blocks where the backyard is too precious to sacrifice. A second-storey…

Few decisions change the character of a period home as quickly as its exterior colours. The right heritage colour scheme can make a Victorian terrace, Federation villa or Edwardian weatherboard look as though it has stepped straight out of its era. The wrong one can flatten beautiful detail, clash with the streetscape and, in many…

Walk down a leafy street in Hawthorn, Malvern or Williamstown and the period homes that stop you are rarely the ones with the most elaborate facade. They are the ones where the garden, the fence, the path and the house all speak the same language. Landscaping is the frame around a heritage home, and when…

Spring is the busiest time of year on Melbourne building sites, and for good reason. The ground has begun to dry out, the days are longer, trades are moving into their most productive months, and a project that breaks ground in September or October has a genuine chance of being weathertight before the following winter.…

Melbourne’s period homes were designed for a different way of living. The front rooms are formal and generous, the ceilings are high, and the detail is superb — but the rear is often a warren of small, dark spaces added piecemeal over a century. This is why the rear extension has become the single most…

Few rooms reveal the character of a period home as quickly as the bathroom. In many of Melbourne’s Victorian, Edwardian and Californian Bungalow homes, the original bathroom was an afterthought — a small, cold room tacked onto the back of the house, often added decades after the home was built. Today, homeowners want the warmth…

Building a new home in Melbourne is one of the most significant investments you’ll ever make — and one of the smartest decisions you can make early in the design process is getting passive solar principles right from the start. Unlike expensive retrofits or add-on technology, passive solar design uses your home’s orientation, materials and…