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’.
LOVE!!!!!
so jealous ;)
Fabulous lady builds fabulous home! Congratulations Annie and good on you Lucy for shining light on this amazing woman!
So, so wonderful
Wow, wow, wow! What a beautiful home! Gob-smacked! I have just bought a midcentury home around Beauie so have a quick question: Annie and Jamie was there a cabinet maker you used to restore/build the kitchen or was it DIY? We have v. similar cabinetry in our kitchen but need to deepen a wall of cupboards/sink to accommodate a dishwasher modern cooktop. Stumped what to do!
And that blue carpet!!!! Truly gorgeous!!!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Absolutely glorious, well done to Annie and Jamie. I only hope more of this type of restoration and celebration of mid-century architecture and design will overtake the brutal and often grotesque renovations and complete overhauls that have become the norm and which are destroying all that is left of our beautiful, mid-century gems.
This place is brilliant. I’m not sure what I love more, the kitchen tiles (fantastic colour), the bathroom cabinet (best I’ve ever seen) or Dougal from the magic roundabout sitting on the little girls bed. Great job, thanks for sharing.
As fellow owner of a 60s house it makes my heart happy to see such a sympathetic to the era renovation. Love!!!
This is fantastic. So glad there are people in the world who still care about preserving beautiful old things.
Absolutely amazing and inspiring!
Hi Samone, we used ‘Jaricks Design’ who we knew. We chose a teak veneer to be most true to the 60’s. Some of the cabinetry was tricky due to the angled ceilings!
Loving every inch of this house! So glad to see mid-century gems being given the love they deserve (and avoiding the dreaded knock-down, rebuild scenario). I had the pleasure of working with Annie briefly a few years back, and I’m not at all surprised to see her home is as warm, fun and interesting as she is! Well done guys, you should be so proud! x
Lovely family and project.
I am the architect. I produced the design and documentation for the renovation including all the joinery design.
Unfortunately the publisher has not mentioned my role for reasons unknown. This should be correctly attributed. :-)
If you are interested in my story, feel free to contact me through my web form.
I am the architect on this lovely project. I designed the renovation works and the interior fitout.
Attribution is required please. Thanks. : )
Oh Annie, the house looks amazing! I still regret selling you those Milo Baughman chairs but I couldn’t think of a better house for them to live in! Congratulations!
This is my fav house yet on DF. Wow…you guys have the eye. Every single detail is perfect. An absolutely stunning home. Well done.
AHHHH this makes my heart sing. This is a keeper in my “inspiring” pile…to look back on and sigh. What a beautiful collection of things you have. All put together so lovingly. love love love. xx ps. The first kitchen pic almost looks like a dolls house with those oversized apples! Fabulous!
Wow, that’s impressive! I think it’s so satisfying to find it all at op shops like they have. It’s like a treasure hunt.
wow so jazzy!
fabulous, eclectic smile-worthy home – love it!
Gorgeous home! Can I ask where the sublime blue carpeting / rugs are from?
Hi Jessica, our carpet is an industrial/commercial ribbed style. They come in loads of colours. Can’t remember the brand but there are a few out there. Most carpet shops will have samples. We used our leftover blue from the bedroom and had a rug made. Again most carpet companies can do this for you. Cheers :)
Thank you so much for letting me know Annie!
AMAZING!!!!!! What a wondrous, joyful, individual house! AMAZING! More like this please TDF! So unique!
What a fantastic job you have done. Just beautiful.
I’ve only come across this article whilst researching for a renovation. Where did you source those awesome tiles?