Inspired by years living in London where family homes on tight blocks are the norm, Stewart Brooks (director at Architected) and Georgie Brooks (a contemporary jewellery designer) purchased a subdivided garden at the back of an existing house in Northcote, and set about building a clever new home there.
The result is a double-storey, three-bedroom residence. The house sits right on the rear boundary line, where a recycled brick exterior treatment faces the back lane and a garage opens to the laneway. Though tucked at the back of a subdivided block, the main entry to the house is via a gate on the street-facing portion of the original property. Once through this gate, visitors and residents are led past the original house and down a pathway dripping with established greenery.
The L-shaped home unfolds from here. Communal spaces wrap around a central courtyard with the kitchen, dining and living room sequence overlooking the floor-to-cieling glaze sliding and bi-fold doors. A home private office is secreted to the side.
Blonde timber floorboards recycled from local demolished houses were laid throughout the new home, but some fun is injected into the interior palette via pops of primary colours inspired by 1950s colour charts! The kitchen joinery exterior is painted a solid muted blue and fire-engine red inside. The same red appears in the powder-coated bench legs and central tap outlet.
Behind the kitchen, a staircase winds up to the three bedrooms and accompanying bathrooms on the first floor.
In the face of these clever design ideas, it’s the classic built-in window seat that stands out the most! Running the length of the living room beside a retractable glass window overlooking the deck, on sunny days the window slides back to create an indoor-outdoor seating element. So smart!
12A Stott Street Northcote will be sold via auction on Saturday 17th July 2021 at 10.30am by Peter Stephens and Isabelle McEwan Marion at Nelson Alexander. See the full listing and inspection times here.
