Extending an Edwardian cottage in a conservation area called for careful planning and a collaborative approach
WORDS CAROLINE RODRIGUES PHOTOGRAPHY SHANNON MCGRATH
When Daron and Samina Letch made a successful bid for a dilapidated 1910 workers’ cottage in the Clifton Hill suburb of Melbourne, Australia, it was their second piece of good news for the day. Just two hours earlier, the couple were told that they were expecting twins.
Finance director Daron, 47, grew up 4km away from Clifton Hill and always loved the area. ‘The suburb has retained its heritage,’ he says. ‘It has many Edwardian and Victorian homes, and it’s close to the city.’
They moved into the four-bedroom house in July 2017 when Samina, 42, who is also a finance director, was 28 weeks pregnant with five-year-old twins Mia and Zac. Daron set to renovating the bathroom after which they got by for four years, until the twins outgrew a small living room with a sunken area that served as their playroom.
In August 2020 the couple began exploring more of their home’s potential. ‘By waiting to make further changes, we knew how the light moved across the house and the backyard,’ explains Daron. They found designer Meredith Nettleton on Instagram. ‘Meredith understood all our ideas,’ says Daron. ‘The design phase was extremely thorough and enjoyable.’ She recommended Eliza Blair Architects, so Daron and Samina hired Meredith and the practice to collaborate on the project.
The brief was to reconfigure the house, replace a 1980s rear extension and bring more light into the gloomy south-facing backyard. After mulling over several design options, the couple chose to extend their home all the way to the side boundary and include an internal courtyard enabling them to see the twins in a new playroom from the open-plan living area and the backyard.
To gain extra space, a detached garage at the end of the backyard became a garden studio with 4m-high ceilings, a shower room and a mezzanine for storage. It also has a bike room with easy access to a lane at the rear of the property.
One challenge arose because of the neighbour’s windows, which are contrary to Australia’s building standards rules. ‘It’s not permitted to build closer than 1m to a window – even if the window contravenes the regulations,’ says Daron. To ensure compliance and avoid any effect on the amount of light the neighbour receives, the extension roof steps down 1m before the boundary.
The project also came within the conservation area planning constraints that protect Cl
