Interiors

A Grand 1885 Sandstone Home Elevated With Whimsy + Playful Energy

1885 House is a glorious sandstone home on Sydney’s Lower North Shore, renovated by Arent&Pyke with deep respect for the original architecture.

Recognising the existing house as structurally ‘perfect’, the designers were tasked with updating the interiors with a more playful energy, appropriate for a modern young family.

Classic materials applied in a contemporary manner balance the history of the building with Arent&Pyke’s signature creativity, custom detailing, and flair.

Written
by
Amelia Barnes

1885 House is a glorious sandstone home on Sydney’s Lower North Shore renovated by Arent&Pyke with deep respect for the original architecture. Photography – Anson Smart

Recognising the existing house as structurally ‘perfect’, the designers were tasked with updating the interiors with a more playful energy appropriate for a modern young family. Photography – Anson Smart

Arent&Pyke’s design balances the sweet spot between classic and contemporary, injecting the home with whimsy, interesting shapes, and a soft colour palette. Photography – Anson Smart

Arent&Pyke were inspired by the original detailing of the structure and personality of the clients. Photography – Anson Smart

Classic materials applied in a contemporary manner balance the history of the building with Arent&Pyke’s signature creativity, custom detailing, and flair. Photography – Anson Smart

Curves and whimsical details are a continuous thread throughout the updated interiors. Photography – Anson Smart

Arent&Pyke furnished the spaces to improve the flow and function of the home’s layout. Photography – Anson Smart

The updated hierarchy of spaces within the home is immediately evident on entry, speaking to its use as a modern family home. Photography – Anson Smart

The period features of the home are respected. Photography – Anson Smart

Sandberg Wallpaper adds a creates a dreamscape in the children’s bedroom. Photography – Anson Smart

Photography – Anson Smart

In the main bedroom, grasscloth-fronted joinery is teamed with polished stucco behind the bed for texture and interest. Photography – Anson Smart

Curving lines continue in the bedroom furniture. Photography – Anson Smart

In the main bathroom, calacatta viola marble adorns the bench top, which was cut down to make matching floor tiles and mirror frames. Photography – Anson Smart

Photography – Anson Smart

Fluted timber features in throughout the bathrooms. Photography – Anson Smart

Arent&Pyke improved the liveability of the home through the clever addition of new rooms within the existing footprint, including a powder room under the stairs. Photography – Anson Smart

Custom fluted travertine wraps around the main bath. Photography – Anson Smart

Photography – Anson Smart

Venetian plaster imparts a subtle glow in the south-facing bathroom. Photography – Anson Smart

Photography – Anson Smart

Outside, a new custom travertine team (lifted on site by 10 men) is intended to age with the home for decades to come. Photography – Anson Smart

Photography – Anson Smart

The grand sandstone facade. Photography – Anson Smart

Photography – Anson Smart

An established garden surrounds the home. Photography – Anson Smart

Writer
Amelia Barnes
10th of April 2023

The spaces within this 1885 sandstone house on Sydney’s Lower North Shore remain as generous and beautifully laid out as the day they were built. The owners loved its grand proportions and scale, but the overly formal interiors called for a more relaxed, comfortable, and playful energy, reflective of their age and lifestyle. 

‘Spatially, everything was there, but we managed to reconfigure and update all of the spaces and just give it a big facelift,’ says Sarah-Jane Pyke, co-founding director of Arent&Pyke. ‘We were really updating it to give it that life and energy for the stage of life that they’re in … They really wanted a house where they could open the doors and host really big lunches in the garden and have that everyday comfort for their family.’ 

Arent&Pyke’s design balances the sweet spot between classic and contemporary, injecting the home with whimsy, interesting shapes, and a soft colour palette.

Throughout the design process, they were inspired by the original detailing of the structure and personality of the clients. These elements are balanced in the playful application of classic materials, such as custom fluted travertine around the main bath, and Venetian plaster that imparts a subtle glow. In the main bathroom, calacatta viola marble adorns the bench top, which was cut down to make matching floor tiles and mirror frames.

Arent&Pyke also improved the liveability of the home through the clever addition of new rooms within the existing footprint, including a powder room under the stairs.

Outside, a new custom stone table (lifted onto the site by 10 men) is intended to age with the home for decades to come. ‘We decided that it should be something which stayed there all the time in this beautiful monolithic material that could just live outside and be part of the garden,’ says Sarah-Jane.

The updated hierarchy of spaces within the home is immediately evident on entry, speaking to its use as a modern family home. ‘The tone and the feeling of the house has completely changed,’ explains Sarah-Jane.

The success of the project lies in the way colour moves through the house, the flow of cohesive materials, and the improved interaction between rooms. ‘There’s a rhythm to how you use the spaces, and that has been a significant change,’ says Sarah-Jane. ‘The way you feel when you experience the space has completely transformed.’

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