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This cheerful 1960’s house in Beaumaris has been home to Annie Price, Jamie Paterson, and their daughter Dorothy for the past three and a half years. Mind you, a good chunk of that time has been spent renovating and restoring their beloved mid century pad – they even spent one full year holed up as a family in a single room underneath the house whilst completing the works!
Annie and Jamie’s home was in need of serious repair when they first took possession. The house had to be basically stripped back to the framework, even the roof was replaced. ‘It was probably more work than a new build’ says Annie in hindsight, though nothing would have deterred her from retaining the home’s original features.
‘We really wanted to restore it to its former glory, saving all the good bits, like the crazy block work, and fixing the ‘not so nice’ bits… but in a sympathetic mid-century style’ says Annie.
The family retained what they could, including the original Oregon beams, handrails and even the ceramic kitchen cupboard doorknobs. What couldn’t be salvaged was replaced with carefully sourced details, like the original 60’s tiles for the kitchen, which were found as ‘new old stock’, and required remeshing where the backing paper had disintegrated. ‘It wasn’t an easy route, as most tradies don’t get it and favour modern fixtures & fittings, but it was a labour of love for us and well worth it in the end’ says Annie.
Absolutely everything here has a story. ‘Most things we own are from op shops and vintage stores, or trawling the local garage sales every Saturday morning – there are no sleep-ins at our place!’ says Annie. Finding their Hans Agne Jakobsson timber veneer light fitting was a proud moment… $4 from a local church fete! In contrast, the Milo Baughman swivel chairs were an indulgent and impulsive splash-out from Grandfathers Axe. Other treasured favourite finds include Annie’s Tretchikoff Blue Lady print, which belonged to her parents in the early 70’s, and a brass monkey sculpture from a talented friend, Arne Grosskopf. Annie also loves being surrounded by her Dad’s artwork and handiwork, he sadly passed away before the house was finished.
Annie and Jamie love colour and character, but they’re not purists when it comes to modernist design. Their home celebrates their love of all things mid century, but it’s also relaxed and fun, full of quirky, sentimental pieces, and odd bits thrown in that simply took their fancy at garage sales, op shops or hard rubbish piles. ‘Lots of timber, lots of colour and lots of humour’ Annie summarises, when asked to describe her home. ‘There’s no point living somewhere that doesn’t make you smile’.
