Lizzie Art House

The transformation of a grand Victorian mansion in Melbourne, Victoria, involved a series of bold contemporary interventions in response to the quality, details and material language of the original home. An important example of the 1880s period, the interiors come alive with art, colour and light gravitating around a two-storey ‘veil’ of Venetian glass blocks that in one dynamic gesture transforms the interior.
Drawing on the rich layers of Italian palazzos, materials are solid and classical in detail with a contemporary twist. The interior unfolds in oak floors, thick carpets, detailed marbles, colour and important pieces of art and furniture to evoke the senses. Handrails and skirtings are made from solid marble that is cool in the hand. The client loved the feeling of walking up the existing staircase where treads were deep and rises were low, so the scale was replicated, reinterpreting it into a classic contemporary form. Each tread wrapped in a green hand tufted colour-gradated runner, its articulated puddle detail balanced with the solid oak parquetry floor.
Volume shifts in the living room reflect the scale of what was once the exterior of the building, part of an earlier renovation. Stripping walls back further continues the external language with new openings. The classically detailed steel framed windows and exposed raw concrete beam add a contemporary layer in tune with with grandness of the historical building. Around the fireplace, stone tiles are stitched into timber floors creating a crafted pattern that avoids a jarring line between the two materials. In the original living room, a delicate Venetian glass chandelier is offset by a musk pink ceiling in colour conversation with the waves of pinks and maroons in the hand-tufted rug. While in the library, another Venetian chandelier that belonged to the client focuses the eye on the ceiling’s deep red palette. A contemporary wall system is lightly placed in the room, not quite reaching the ceiling to highlight its beautiful geometry, forming a layered tapestry of art books, nooks for artworks, and enclosed cupboards, the composition an expression of the traditional library.
Connecting the kitchen with the living room, a designated island bench in sweeping solid marble provides a nuanced space for pre-dinner drinks. The solidity of the marble is demonstrated through careful detailing that expresses the honesty and beauty of the two connecting marbles. Rooms that are designed for the evening respond with darker and richer details, while light washes and reflects off surfaces. A textured veil of Venetian glass bricks shoot beyond the first floor, exposing the chamfered radius so you can read the full height of the dynamic surface, and an ephemeral silver leaf ceiling plays with reflections from the adjacent pool.
Inside Lizzy Art House, materials and details humanise spaces through craftsmanship. Every detail is loaded with psychology, transforming spaces through light, texture and colour. Here, ageless materials transcend passing trends wth enduring authenticity. They carry longevity and permanence, and a quality that is at once familiar and grounding.