Park House is a minimalist, art-filled family home in Melbourne

Park House, once a Presbyterian manse, was built in 1856 in the Williamstown area of Melbourne. One of city's oldest surviving houses, it is suitably determined and rugged, modest and squat. Local architecture firm Pleysier Perkins was charged by the house’s new owners with its sensitive restoration and finding space for a discreet but significant and indulgence-friendly extension.

The architects drew up plans for a light-filled, three-story (one underground) concrete box, housing extra bedrooms, living spaces, a wine cellar, a curing room, a gym, and a kitchen fit and large enough for less parsimonious preparations, all largely hidden behind the two-storey blue stone original dwelling and set in lush planting.  

Step inside this modern Park House

While construction was under way, Melbourne-based interior design and architecture studio Mim Design was brought on board to oversee a happy marriage of old and new. It was a project that grew in scope says Miriam (Mim) Fanning, principal of Mim Designs: 'What started as an internal review soon evolved into a significant interior architecture project prioritising spatial planning through to full interior detailing throughout the heritage and new part of the home. We followed through with the completion of a full furniture, artwork and accessories package.'

Fanning and team devised a material palette that echoes the rough and tumble of the original bluestone facade, using cut and chiselled stone in charcoals and dove greys, designed to age gracefully and complementing spans of raw concrete. These are softened by timber panelling, while sculptural pieces, art-topped plinths and island benches suggest a well-appointed private gallery. 

The real eye-catchers of the extension, though, are a gently spiralling staircase in blackened metal and a double-height fireplace in dark grey quartzite. The centrepiece kitchen – the new owners are enthusiastic entertainers – matches chiselled and hammered grey marble with black-stained American oak cabinetry and gunmetal detailing and boasts a striking grey leather banquette. The more modest rooms of the original houses, meanwhile, are imagined as intimate retreats, employing organic forms and a soapier colour scheme. 

The new owners, and their teams of architects and designers, were determined that the quality of materials, craft and attention to detail bring cohesion to the project. 'Each and every trade worked tirelessly to create a home that would continue to stand in the community as a pillar of heritage preservation, while addressing the contemporary needs of a hard-working and experiential home,' says Mim Design’s creative director Emma Mahlook. 

The move between old and new is more smooth transition than unnerving jolt. And while the new addition may not please hard-line preservationists, the original house has been restored with care, not as a museum piece but as part of a home which offers worldly pleasures and meditative moments. 'It was an interesting balancing act in restraint and abundance,' says Lisa Ransom, associate at Mim Design.

mimdesign.com.au (opens in new tab)

pleysierperkins.com.au (opens in new tab)