Inspired by the countryside in the south of Italy, Brighton Residence emerges as a richly layered family home that expresses its materiality through an inviting engagement with both the outdoors and an embedded openness. Hecker Guthrie combines gestures of warmth and texture to create joyful moments throughout, allowing the narrative of the home to sit comfortably alongside the evolving dialogue of its growing family.

Despite its beachside location, there is an intrinsically ‘Melbourne ’identity to Brighton Residence. Retaining key historical reminders of the home’s origins became an important part of its current occupation, whilst weaving in the new through a considered lens ensured a continuation of that legacy. Originally built in the 1800s, “the home possessed an old-world grandeur that we wanted to celebrate during the design process,” describes Caroline Hedley, Interior Designer at Hecker Guthrie. 

Like any collaboration, the core relationship between those reimagining the spaces and those intending to live within them was crucial, extracting an approach based on an understanding of the inhabitants’ lives. “Our clients at Brighton Residence were joyful and dynamic collaborators,” Caroline says. “Having them be such active participants in their project made for a wonderfully harmonious design, with an outcome of intention and trust.” The initial objective for the project was to renovate and sell, yet this approach took an alternate path after a European vacation, where the long-running heritage and lineage of homes as heirlooms sparked a new resolve for the home to capture and represent its custodians.

With the owners working from home on occasion, integrating a sense of separation through zoning allows the multi-functionality of the brief to be achieved. Whilst “the more formal part of the home makes space for the study and quieter, more refined zones, their love for entertaining encourages a more open space, flexible enough for large gatherings, with a strong connection to the garden, pool and outdoor kitchen space, while the two young children also needed space to grow and play.” The upper level then becomes a place to retreat, which is both robust in its comprising elements and yet engaging and comfortable for the children to make their own.

Whilst the zones are quite a departure from one another aesthetically, the principle intention is that the home feels inviting and considered throughout,” says Caroline. The retention and expression of the original Hawthorn brick façade is uniquely reflective of the Melbourne home and a connection to context, expressing and celebrating this as both the external skin whilst adding to the internal experience of the home, which was key to that continued narrative. “Repetition of the archway in the transition zone resonates with the ornate existing archways in the entrance,” Caroline continues. “The opening of the internal hallway for clear lines of sight through the home from old to new was important to end up with a home that is equal parts formal and informal, regal and relaxed.”