Architect: Hindley & Co
Interior Designer: Hindley & Co
Interior Styling: Hindley & Co
Builder: Baker Building Group
Photographer: Tatjana Plitt

The house is inspired by a Spanish mission-style house, with its arched doorways.

The living room features a fireplace and ceilings with exposed beams.

The sitting room features a modular so, and the fireplace gives the room a cozy feel.

The dining room features unique chandeliers, and the glass doors showcase the view of the swimming pool.

The kitchen features a built-in kitchen island with a tile countertop.

The study features a window seat which is perfect for relaxation after work.

A seat and a coffee table beside the bookshelf.

Modern inspired dining room with pops of colour from jewel coloured chairs to play off the art deco heritage of the home.

Master bedroom seating area featuring Elke copper velvet chairs from Castelli and marble coloured carpet from Edel Carpets), from our inner easter suburbs project in Melbourne, renovating a 1930’s Spanish art deco home.

Master bedroom with headboard created with Tasmanian oak wood dowels for a highly finished art deco minimalist feel.

Art Deco inspired large ensuite bathroom with pink and cream Butterfly tile from Perini, featuring a top mounted, double sink from corian, Forme L'isola Freestanding Bath and walk in shower. — Art Deco inspired large ensuite bathroom with pink and cream Butterfly tile from Perini, featuring a top mounted, double sink from corian, Forme L’isola Freestanding Bath and walk in shower.

Laundry in a renovated 1930’s house in Melbourne. Features slate gray wide Fog tile from Glux and obscure glass door, with reeded glass from Viridian as a nod to the art deco heritage of the house.

This Spanish Mission-style house, built in the 1930s, came with ‘great bones’ – solid double brick walls and generous accommodation. On the downside, one had to follow a maze-like passage to reach the back garden and many of the rooms, including a front vestibule, were literally a through way.

The 1990s addition was also problematic, with the chunky sliding aluminium doors to contrast the fine steel arched windows from the 1930s. Hence, while a new kitchen and bathrooms were required, the initial phase focused on getting the planning right for a couple with a child, who was returning to Melbourne from living overseas.

While the owners felt the house was too small and required enlarging, Hindley & Co could see it was the layout and the lack of interconnection between rooms and spaces that were the main stumbling blocks.

The dining room and family room were simply disjointed from the dining and kitchen area, and the removal of a few walls created a much more appropriate response to contemporary living. Other areas, such as the vestibule at the front of the house, was transformed into a study, with new wall-to-wall built-in shelves.

The flimsy 1990s sliding glass doors were replaced with arched steel and glass doors, now framing the dining area that overlooks the pool and terrace for alfresco dining. The new striped awnings give protection from the northern sunlight.

While the kitchen, with its Corian bench and butler’s pantry, is clearly new, many of the original features in this home have come to life with a sumptuous palette of colours – mauve ceilings including repainting the heavy brown timber rafters (in the living areas), deep emerald green (for the study) and soft pale greys to replace the stark white walls (popular in the 1930s).

Other vibrant colour appears in the selection of tiles, including the ensuite to the main bedroom which now features punchy graphic floor tiles that loosely reference the home’s origins.

The Balwyn house, with its four bedrooms, still retains all the hallmarks of the Spanish Mission style – decorative fireplace surrounds, leadlight windows and original arches that are now experiencing a revival almost a century later.

However, with a few strategic moves, removing a few walls, providing new amenities and a more adventurous colour palette, it shows what can be achieved by building on its past and taking it several steps forward.