See inside this charming cottage on tree-lined Cottesloe road

An enthralling cottage on a tree-lined road, identified for its broad verges dotted with swings and trampolines, impressed a Cottesloe couple to create the final word household house by the seashore.

When the dad and mom to a few younger youngsters first walked by way of in 2022, they fell for the house’s beautiful character options.

“We’ve always loved character homes,” the house owners advised Western Suburbs Weekly.

“This home had the leadlight windows, high ceilings, ceiling roses and all the history we wanted, which is something you just don’t come by easily these days.”

Overlooking the dated interiors, together with a kitchen with royal blue cabinetry and purple splashbacks, the couple snapped up the 4 bed room, one toilet property on Griver Street.

“We had both lived together in Mt Claremont prior to moving to Cottesloe and we had bought, renovated and sold two homes before landing beachside, which is where we wanted to end up,” they defined.

“Buying an existing new, or even relatively newly built home of say between 15 and 20 years old wasn’t really for us.

“We were also realistic and knew that finding a home within our budget closer to the beach was always going to be a fixer-upper.

“This house was in a liveable condition, however, the spaces were too small for our growing family and hadn’t been touched or routinely maintained for a significant amount of time.

“It had so much potential, though.”

While residing within the house for 2 years they engaged Perth-based structure and interiors apply Studio Roam to re-imagine the unique brick cottage and design the addition.

After an 18-month design and documentation course of, Tim Bruce from Bruce Construction Design broke floor in March 2025.

“We’ve known Tim for a long time so we knew his work ethic and the quality of homes he’s built so using Tim was a no-brainer for us,” the house owners stated, including they moved to a rental close by for the nine-month development course of.

“Studio Roam was recommended to us by a friend and they pulled together the initial interiors and I refined each detail and made all the final selections as the build went on.

“We wanted to maximise the light and have our ceiling heights as high we possible and they achieved this for us.

“Studio Roam did a great job of maximising our spaces, layout and design.”

Architect Sally Weerts, a director at Studio Roam, stated the house owners needed the venture to have fun the house’s previous whereas additionally delivering a heat, fashionable life-style suited to at present.

“We wanted to respect the existing cottage without freezing it in time,” she stated.

“Although the cottage is not heritage listed, it had character and value.

“Later renovations were stripped away and the original house was restored before the new rear addition was introduced.”

This concerned balancing a cautious re-calibration of the unique house with a sculptural up to date extension, which displays the rhythms of household life and the house owners’ love of entertaining.

“The clients are generous entertainers with a large extended family, so the house needed to work in two very different modes,” Ms Weerts stated.

“It had to open up for large gatherings, long lunches and late nights, while still feeling warm, easy and intimate for a family of five day-to-day.”

She stated the up to date addition was additionally particularly designed to be distinct from the charming cottage.

To mark the junction between previous and new, a tiled stairwell was integrated that makes use of beautiful checkerboard tiles impressed by ones the house owners had admired at a lodge they visited in Taormina.

As a refined nod to the unique house, the hallway arch was replicated by way of to the brand new areas.

Ms Weerts stated alternatives drew closely on inspirations from the house owners’ worldwide travels.

She described the general aesthetic as “contemporary, sculptural and coastal with a subtle Mediterranean influence.”

The house owners added: “For the extension, we took inspiration from places we’ve travelled to and the feelings those places evoke.

“Some of the style elements were Mediterranean and Southern Californian and their Spanish architecture.

“We also felt you can’t replicate a character home so rather than trying to make the extension feel like something it wasn’t we went with a completely different aesthetic and allowed the two parts of the home to complement each other.”

Ms Weerts stated: “We really resonated with the idea that the clients wanted the house to feel relaxed, generous and transportive – almost like a permanent summer holiday – rather than a literal interpretation of a particular style.

“The clients liked a mix of styles and things they had seen in travels when away on family trips so this was very much a collage of these things.”

She stated the final word purpose was to create a house that might meet the rising wants of a household of 5 whereas evoking the sensation of a coastal retreat.

“The brief was not to recreate a particular style, but to capture a feeling: the ease of a summer holiday held within the everyday patterns of family life,” she stated.

Having a ‘lived in’ aesthetic was additionally vital to the house owners, whereas the fabric palette wanted to be stunning however strong with a laid again ease for a younger household.

Now that the house is full, Ms Weerts stated she loves the sculptural parts all through, from the hearth to the carefully-crafted kitchen island and rangehood.

These are among the many key parts that deliver the house to life and assist anchor it, she added.

Usefulness apart, the attract of the sheltered courtyard additionally turned out to be a stunning shock.

“It creates a private outdoor room at the centre of the home, protected from the street and surrounding suburbia and we were really pleased with how this space feels because it is small but it still feels generous and really functional,” Ms Weerts stated.

As with any large-scale renovation, she famous this one offered a handful of challenges: navigating the numerous stage modifications throughout the prevailing home and web site was one in every of them.

However, as an alternative of treating the autumn of the location as a constraint, Ms Weerts leaned in and used it to form the expertise of the home.

“The floor levels step gradually down from the front door to the rear garden, helping the new living spaces settle into the landscape while maintaining strong visual and physical connections outdoors,” she stated.

“The movement is also expressed through the elevations, material transitions and shifting render textures.

“We spent a lot of time with the clients refining the render finishes.

“Subtle shifts in texture were used to catch light, soften the sculptural forms and express the way the house steps down through the site.”

To guarantee the house felt grounded all through, pure stone flooring from Eco Outdoor was used inside and outside, offering a tactile high quality and reinforcing the relaxed coastal character of the residence.

The construct completed in December final 12 months, leading to a house with timeless kind and up to date operate.

And, the house owners have been over the moon to be given again the keys in time for Christmas.

“All up the renovation and extension took around 14 months from demolition to receiving the keys, which is quick for this size renovation,” they stated.

“This came from working with the builder proactively and being able to make quick decisions to allow them to stick with their subbie bookings and commitments.”

With 5 bedrooms, three bogs, a powder room and versatile residing areas together with a playroom, they admitted the venture grew to become greater than what they’d initially deliberate after they first noticed the home.

Once the design section was underway, the couple couldn’t resist rising the scope – and so they stated they haven’t any regrets about that.

“It was quite an intensive process for us, feeling like a third job at night time, but the reward was a timeline that met our needs and a home near the beach that we love living in every day.”

Who lives right here?

• An industrial enterprise proprietor and a trend stylist
• Their three youngsters ages 5, three and 6 weeks previous
• Their dachshund, Doug

Fast details:

• Design and documentation course of ran for about 18 months, commencing in July 2023.
• Building allow package deal issued in January 2025.
• Construction commenced on web site in March 2025 and was accomplished in December 2025.
• The architect and inside designer was Studio Roam
• The builder was Bruce Construction Design
• The panorama design was by Robert Finnie Design.
• House now has 320sqm of inner space, together with the storage.
• The block measurement is approx 574sqm.

Top tip:

The house owners prime tip for renovators is to maintain speaking with the builder and architect.

“The finest relationships are frank and trustworthy with no damage emotions. Renovating is sort of a third job from a time dedication perspective.

“If you need to be concerned and have your contact on the venture be ready to spend the time.