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Style consultant Tash Sefton from Where Did Your Style Go? and Genovese Coffee managing director Adam Genovese, spent several months looking for a generous Sydney home by the water, without the mould issues of their previous Mosman house.
‘It’s a Sydney thing and I just couldn’t stand it as it damaged clothes and it wasn’t good for our health,’ says Tash. ‘We also wanted something we could renovate (no mould!) to add value to the property.’
The couple couldn’t justify the price of a house on the Lower North Shore, so they turned their attention to older apartments with house-like proportions.
Tash and Adam soon found a three-bedroom apartment in a 1920s Kirribilli building complete with water views – and even a view of Sydney Harbour Bridge from the communal rooftop.
The apartment was in good condition, but was ripe for some cosmetics updates.
Tash explains, ‘Although most of the historic bones of the apartment were all intact, it was very dreary because of dull coloured carpet, and insipid wall colours.
‘The apartment is very similar to 1920s Parisian apartments (which I love!), so painting the entire space white (Dulux Natural White) was the first thing we did, and it completely elevated the space.’
Art deco features remain intact throughout the building’s common spaces (as seen in the grand staircase, terrazzo flooring, and ornate moulded ceilings), but Tash’s apartment had suffered some damage internally.
‘There was some water damage to the decorative mouldings which needed repairing, and we intend to reinstate some missing pressed metal ceilings,’ says Tash.
A major update Tash and Adam prioritised early on was to update the flooring. Carpet was removed, making way for herringbone parquetry flooring by Havwoods and installed by Floor For Living.
‘Although it was the most expensive and time-consuming element of our renovation, it has completely transformed the apartment.’ says Tash.
Last but not least, Tash and Adam saw potential in reconfiguring the floor plan by transforming a large formal dining room into the main bedroom, removing a kitchen wall, and turning the original third bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe (a must for Tash!) and office.
Over a year later, Tash has been pleasantly surprised by how conducive the apartment is to family living.
‘Living in an apartment with a family I wasn’t sure about, but this building (and all the buildings in this street actually) are just stunning,’ she says.
‘We have mostly lived in large homes with gardens, but we have all adapted really well to living on one level. It feels spacious but at the same time very intimate.’
The privilege of living so close to the harbour and city is also never lost on Tash.
‘We are 10 steps from the Kirribilli Wharf so my son catches the ferry to school, and we are eight minutes to the city,’ she says.
‘The ferry is such a beautiful way to get around, and even though we do it often, it’s still a pinch me moment to travel to and from the city on the harbour.’
When home, you’ll likely catch Tash and Adam gazing out to the world beyond, through the building’s original stained glass windows.
Tash says, ‘Maybe it’s because of the water being so close, or the noises of the birdlife in the area, or because of how the building has been built with 12-foot-high ceilings, and the ocean breeze that comes through the awning windows… We can never get anyone to leave!’
