Emerald House is an alteration and addition to a heritage-listed 1890s Victorian villa in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. The contemporary design balances the practical demands of family life with a love of entertaining, while carefully retaining and celebrating the home’s original historic features.

The client wished to honour the home’s historical character and improve spaces for family life functionality; it was to be a sanctuary and place of reconnection. This intent combined with a passion for art informed a theatrical, layered interior within the existing heritage envelope, where contemporary interventions sit in dialogue with the home’s past.

The residence comprises five bedrooms (three with ensuites), four bathrooms, two living rooms, formal dining and living rooms, a large open kitchen, loft office, wide garden and pool. The main scope of works include a rear extension that reoriented the kitchen and family living spaces to connect directly with the north-facing garden, reconfiguration and appointment of a parents’ retreat with master bedroom, en suite, walk-in robe/dressing room and balcony with a green roof garden.

A materially diverse palette celebrates rich, luxurious colour and texture, with burgundy, brown and green stone varieties, dark timber floors, bespoke rugs and custom-stained American Oak joinery.

Photography: Anson Smart