House of Lightness
2022
South Yarra, Melbourne Australia
There’s something in the air in California. A golden glow, a soft, warm ambience.
It’s in this love affair with place, that the story for The House of Lightness, begins.
Our clients first met in California. One standing in front of the camera, and the other behind it.
It was this chance encounter that marked the beginning of the pair’s happily ever after, and for him a decision to return back home to the city of Melbourne.
The other character in this story is the light: the light remembered from their time in California; the light we hoped to bring to their home—a classic Victorian terrace, and the lightness of two people—who radiate total happiness.
House of Light.
Where sunshiny golden memories were made they now find a place in South Yarra.
Guided by these recollections, together with a rural Australian upbringing, the house has both a lightness and a grounding energy. Amongst calm, sandy walls, design details reference the green landscape through a formal setting, and the deep ocean through a navy sofa, both bring a masculine balance to the softeness of the house.
Through the restored and readapted archways, the tone of the house shifts. As you move towards the rear landscaped courtyard, the house seems to lighten and soften. A calming wall colour, and softening curves are intended to reflect the client’s own calming, kind presence, while a playful, large scale Nathan Hawkes painting brings a bounce of energy and joy.
Layered within the house are bespoke timber furniture pieces from local craftsman in Los Angeles, who we commissioned specially to bring those early Californian memories back into the home.
Where sunshiny golden memories were made on the sands of Malibu, they now find a place in South Yarra.
