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This renovation was a family affair for Maxwell & Page Architects lead designer Jess Garnham, as the home belongs to her sister, Amy, her husband Harry, and their three young kids.
They weren’t the first siblings to collaborate on the New South Wales Mid North Coast property either, as the farmhouse was originally built in the 1970s by two brothers, who later split the 200-acre property in half. It was later further subdivided into smaller acreages.
When Amy and Harry bought the house in 2024, they were just the third owners. And while the home was in ‘amazing structural condition’, the kitchen and the bathrooms were at the end of their life.
‘It was primarily the kitchen and the bathrooms in which the modernist charm stopped. There was nothing worthy of restoring and nothing worth replicating. The finishes, joinery and fixtures in these areas were never done very well. There was a different wallpaper in every room (much of it floral), and a lot of the house was very tired and worn out from decades of family life,’ Jess says.
‘I guess we always saw this house as a bit like Cinderella. You could see the potential and the modernist sensibilities were there, but it had been a bit mistreated.’
Retaining most of the original footprint, the transformation focused instead on reviving the interior’s retro spirit. There wasn’t a white room in the house when they started, and Amy was very keen to keep it that way.
‘In the end, everything came back to two guiding rules: “no white walls: and “made for family life”,’ Jess adds.
Internally, the exposed brickwork has been maintained, along with all the internal timber linings, which are being slowly sanded back and restored by Amy and Harry. The incongruous country-style wallpaper of the bathrooms has been replaced with Colori Matt tiles from Tiento, bringing a playful pink theme to the ensuite.
In the main bathroom, the same tile in sage green features, paying homage to the original finishes and the bushland backdrop. They also strategically lowered the windowsill to capture views of the landscape, achieving the family’s ‘dream’ to brush their teeth while watching kangaroos hop by outside.
For the most part, the colours were a reflection of what was previously there. The kitchen’s new stainless steel benchtops are paired with blue tiles, while the yellow cabinetry offers a direct nod to the previous yellow finishes.
‘The biggest hurdle was a delay in some materials and getting local tilers to take on the job; not many of them had the patience to stick it out — there are a lot of tiles,’ Jess says.
Despite not being a direct restoration, the renovation is a playful, elevated twist on the past. In the next phase of the project, they’ll be tackling the original verandah and reconnecting the house to some of the elevated areas at the rear.
But even with the updates ongoing, Jess says the house already feels deeply complete, filled with colour, personality, and functionality that help shape the fun moments in the family’s everyday life.
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