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Renovating this house in Ararat — a regional town about two hours outside Melbourne — was a full family affair for SJB director Adam Haddow.
‘My parents, Gwen and David Haddow, have owned the house since 2020 after buying it from my brother who needed to upsize to suit his growing family,’ Adam says.
It was perfect timing, coinciding with Gwen and David’s plans to downsize from their acreage and family home of 50 years on the outskirts of Ararat.
And while the existing 1950s brick bungalow was modest and pokey, with low ceilings, no insulation and very little connection to the garden, it was also charming, close to town, and just the right size for a clever renovation.
‘Rather than remove the original house and replace it with something new, it was our intent to perform a series of surgeries to the original dwelling,’ Adam says.
Using the existing building as the centre point, Adam designed a small extension to the front and back, stretching the footprint to just 150 square metres.
At the front, they added a ‘good room’, comprising a new kitchen, living and dining space with veranda and private courtyard facing north. The rear now includes two new bathrooms, leaving the bedrooms within the existing footprint.
‘Mum and dad didn’t really give me much of a brief, they were happy for me to take the design into my own hands. The only direction mum gave was to make sure the house captured a sense of the bush,’ Adam says.
In many ways, the home is a love letter to Ararat: ‘My parents have lived here for most of their lives and the place means a great deal to me and my family.’
The playful interiors feature pinks, greens, greys, and dominant use of red brick, nodding to the plants in the natural surroundings. On the exterior, a custom finish has given the bagged bricks are a soft pink appearance, inspired by flowering gum trees.
Adam saying ensuring the house was purpose built for his parents in the last stage of their lives was also an ‘incredible gift’.
‘Instead of [requiring] grab rails and a stability chair in the shower, the design of the home integrates assistive features to ensure that the house serves my parents, rather than the other way around,’ he adds.
‘We’ve included a tiled bench in the shower, eliminated steps and provided wider walkways and thoroughfares. Perhaps the innovation is simply about doing straightforward things right. This house isn’t tricky — it’s just good, with a bit of delight and joy thrown in.’
Adam admits he doesn’t know of any other pink houses in Ararat, but says it feels like a perfect fit — both for his parents and its location.
