How This Quirky Backyard Studio Transformed A Family Home
Architecture
Monty Retreat is a self-contained addition for a busy family home in Montmorency. Exterior Weathertex Cladding painted Dulux Cuddlepot.
The addition wraps around the backyard, with a deck and wall of breeze blocks — matching the entry of the main house.
The playful kitchen. Laminex Burnt Ochre on below bench cabinetry. Laminex Paperbark on high-level cabinetry. Act Three terrazzo stone by Fibonacci.
Walls painted Dulux White Duck.
The multi-purpose retreat features dedicated space for working from home. Blackbutt engineered flooring by Hurfords.
Windows were carefully placed to ensure privacy from the main house.
The bathroom continues the earthy colour palette. Terrazzo Nostalgia Tiles by Academy Tiles.
The calming bedroom.
Monty Retreat by Drawing Room Architecture is a great example of what happens when you think outside the box.
Located in Melbourne’s leafy northeast, the existing Montmorency home was ‘full to the brim’ when the owners approached Drawing Room Architecture’s Nicola Dovey for a renovation.
‘The family needed additional space for their kids to relax with friends, have movie nights, large dinner parties, and a dedicated space for working from home,’ Nicola says.
It also had to serve as a self-contained unit that could be used for multigenerational living, designed with the client’s 86-year-old mother in mind, who often comes to visit.
Rather than disrupting the existing building fabric, Nicola came up with a creative addition that could be discretely hidden in the backyard of the 1960s home.
This meant the home’s classic flair could remain intact. Its low-slung roofline, rustic brick walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, and geometric breeze blocks at the entry all helped set the tone for the bold new wing with a ‘saw-tooth’ roof.
Passive solar principles also influenced the all-electric addition. While the living areas face the sun, the bedrooms, corridors, laundry and bathrooms are to the south, where shaded awnings and pergolas screen the sun to the north.
Even the sculptural roofline helped maximise natural light, while also maintaining a sense of privacy between the two dwellings.
Externally, the ‘retreat’ is painted in an eye-catching terracotta hue, taking cues from the owner’s colourful art collection and the surrounding banksia trees.
The interiors continue this playful vibe, with a burnt ochre-coloured island bench, slabs of terrazzo, and sloping ceilings.
‘As a rule, we keep away from white as much as possible. The walls here are Dulux White Duck, which looks different depending on which room you are in and where the sun is,’ Nicola adds.
‘I love the joy the external form brings. [The sloping roof design] was under threat a few times, one builder suggesting its removal as a cost cutting exercise, another challenging the bold colour.
‘Luckily, the client held true and it survived unscathed!’