When they began renovations on their home in inner Melbourne, homeowner Lee-Ann and her fiancé, Will, admit they were “terrified”. The floorboards were punctured with holes that ran right through to the ground and the entire place was a rundown mess. It was an enormous project, but together with building designer Aydan Doherty of Design by AD, they managed to transform it into a place where they could “live a beautiful life,” Lee-Ann says.
Although it was a “massive risk”, Lee-Ann and Will had some things working in their favour. “They bought just before building costs started to skyrocket because of Covid,” Aydan recalls. “And Lee-Ann has an instinctive eye for design, great intuition and is really resourceful. There’s a strong interior scheme that carries her signature.”
The heritage facade was retained but everything else was gutted. The front four rooms – originally three bedrooms and a living room – were re-built as two bedrooms, a main bathroom and a living room drenched in Dulux Manila.
French doors were added and now open onto a tiled chequerboard courtyard with sparse plantings of cacti and succulents – a design cue inspired by fashion designer Isabel Marant’s Melrose Place store in LA.
Emily Brookfield. (Photography: Tatjana Plitt | Styling: Jacqui Addison)
Past the bathroom, a hallway leads to the new extension. Once a 1930s lean-to, it was scrapped to make way for an open-plan kitchen, dining and informal living. From here, stackers open onto a secondary garden, where Aydan repurposed an existing kitchen chimney into an outdoor fireplace. “We wanted to leave a piece of the past nestled in as part of the new,” he explains.
When it came to sourcing marble, Lee-Ann and Will were especially thrifty. “It wasn’t uncommon for them to call me from a stone yard among piles of offcuts, asking if a particular slab could stretch to a vanity or how we might adapt the design to make a piece work on a basin, for example,” recalls Aydan. “Although the same marble and travertine isn’t consistent throughout, it adds great personality to the house.”
Finding a slab of marble big enough for the three-metre kitchen splashback also proved tricky, but in the end, they were triumphant in locating a hard-to-source Calacatta Helena marble from Turkey. Lee-Ann ranks the kitchen as her favourite spot.
“We use it constantly. I love to cook and entertain, and it truly feels like the heart of the home. I adore the soft beige and grey colour palette and the trinket shelf showcasing pieces from our travels,” she says.
“It’s such an open and light-filled space. The floaty, whimsical veining of the marble is just beautiful and the overall scale of the kitchen makes it feel so inviting and special.”
by Jessica Olpp. (Photography: Tatjana Plitt | Styling: Jacqui Addison)
“Although the same marble and travertine isn’t consistent throughout, it adds great personality to the house.”
AYDAN DOHERTY, BUILDING DESIGNER
Upstairs, the primary suite features a pitched ceiling and vanity-shower “hub” with partition walls that stop just shy of the ceiling. For the vanity, they used Estremoz marble from Portugal, but its application required a bit of creativity as by the time they went to place the order, all the slabs had sold except for one.
“We had enough for the bathroom vanity but not enough for the wardrobe shelf,” says Lee-Ann. “Getting it to fit required rotating the excess 90 degrees. It means that the veining runs vertically, top to bottom, as opposed to from left to right on the vanity, but it’s barely noticeable.”
“The idea for this home was for longevity and comfortable living.”
AYDAN DOHERTY, BUILDING DESIGNER
When it came to the interiors, Lee-Ann and Will took inspiration from LA, especially the Proper Hotel in Downtown LA by American interior design doyenne Kelly Wearstler and her use of layering, warmth and earthy palettes. Lee-Ann wanted a space that felt similarly “inviting and deeply personal”.
She used sand, beige, taupe and cream colours as the canvas, adding “pops of peach, rust, yellow and burgundy”, decorating each room with a mix of old and new, trawling Facebook Marketplace and vintage stores to source unique items like ceramic pots and a chrome coffee table.
“I adore the soft beige and grey colour palette and the trinket shelf showcasing pieces from our travels.”
LEE-ANN, OWNER
She also added contemporary pieces, such as an Ellison Studios dining table, and sentimental items, such as a carved bureau inherited from her parents.
“The idea for this home was for longevity and comfortable living without overcapitalising,” says Aydan. “And I think that’s what we achieved.”
THIS IS THE LIFE
“I love how close the home is to the city, but it still has a country charm,” says homeowner Lee-Ann. “The neighbourhood has a great community, with pretty streets, the Yarra trails and grasslands nearby, and it’s changing so quickly in an exciting way. Having friends and family close by makes it feel even more special.”
The Design Team:
Design by AD: designbyad.com.au
KPLD: kpla.com.au
Align Concepts: alignconcepts.com.au
