Photography: Jacques Romanin
She was a majestic Victorian Italianate villa lying dormant in the heart of Kyneton on a 5000-square-metre block. And while she was heritage-listed, she was also completely irresistible. “Catherineville was a sleeping beauty on the brink of subdivision,” explains owner Richard Parker, founder of Rationale skincare, who prescribed extensive love and restoration to bring her back to her former glory and reach her potential of becoming a cultural and social hub for family and friends.
The idea was to create a mix of original Victorian features padded out with modern comfort, with a touch of high-tech wrapped up in some sharp design. Specialists were called in to restore the lime and crushed-marble stucco lustro walls, take care of the gilding and wallpapering and repair the intricate original tessellated tiling, while the new floors needed a team with different skills to encase the underfloor heating in a Versailles-style pattern of European oak and install the triple-height Italian steel and glass doors. And this was all before the new rooms could be added: a modern library, dining spaces, new kitchens and butler’s pantry, an upstairs master suite, the pool and pool house, a guest house, gymnasium and an additional studio.
With a works list this big, it takes a village to transform a villa, and while Richard had plenty of ideas for Catherineville, so did his husband Greg, a gifted amateur interior and garden designer. They teamed up with Melbourne architect Robin Williams, who had worked on their previous homes, local artisan builder Adrian Romanin to pull together the trades to tackle the specialist restoration, and LA-based interior designer Tristan Santos of Gensler to hit the high notes of sophistication and supreme comfort.
Richard’s inspiration came in many forms – “I love the work of Studio Peregalli, Billy Baldwin and Robert Kime,” he says – but he also relied heavily on the pages of magazines like Belle, Cabana and The World of Interiors. The finished project is led by drama and mood – each meaningfully layered room defines the space and its use. “A home must be livable, bearing the imprint of its owners,” explains Richard. “In a similar way, the restoration inspires a new way of living. It’s cosy nights reading by the fire one week, followed by a piano recital and elegant supper in The Pavilion the next. We love to read, so our library is at the centre of the house. It’s cluttered and built for slouchy reading, but it’s incredibly cosy and comforting. Visitors are intuitively drawn to the library, and everyone loves this room most of all.”
Probably the most transformative addition to this project was the construction of this grand pavilion beside and to the rear of the main house, with glass walls and gold-coffered ceilings to deliver crisp acoustics for the concerts, plays, exhibitions and dance performances that take centre stage between cocktail and dinner parties. Richard has made this a musical home, he says. “We have two grand pianos named Clive and Betty, after my parents. Clive lives in the pavilion while Betty resides in the drawing room and I play them both every day.”
Art also plays a major role in the visual story of the villa, with new works constantly being added. “Our son, Ezra, found a Banksy hidden at an auction, so it is very special. And we recently purchased a beautiful painting by Huseyin Sami through our friends Mitch and Andy from Oigall Projects in Melbourne’s Gertrude Street. We’ve also bought some lovely pieces from our friend and Melbourne designer, Julia Cox,” says Richard. These new pieces sit alongside established works collected and curated over a lifetime. “We often loan works to national and international exhibitions. Some of my favourites include works by Salvador Dalí, Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, Russell Drysdale, Bill Henson and John Coburn.”
Rationale is a busy and booming business, so international travel is a big part of the job for Richard. Regular trips to Paris, the US and other parts of Europe may keep him away from Catherineville for longer than he’d like. “It’s utter bliss arriving back from a business trip and entering the gates,” he says. “Driving through the large garden, I note how things have progressed. There’s an instant sense of the grounding seasonality of home. Once inside, I immediately submit to Catherineville’s unspoken codes of grand comfort. I never want to leave!”
The Design Team
Robin Williams Architect: robinwilliamsarchitect.com
A. Romanin and Sons: aromaninandsons.com.au
Gensler: gensler.com
Rationale: rationale.com
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