Old and new

I've always wanted to buy a really old home that has cool architectural features and renovate it, leaving some of the "old" intact. That is just what marianne amodio architecture studio in Vancouver did here. A complete transformation of a seldom used ground floor from basement storage to master bedroom and living quarters, this renovation was realized with the principle of exposing the layers of history evident in the 1927 home. The contrast between old and new is proudly pronounced: Original red brick fireplaces are revealed, their chalk inscriptions from previous owners left behind; old fir beams find new life as stair treads, and vintage fir planks salvaged from the demolition become a crafted herringbone feature wall. The concrete floor is uncovered, contrasted by shiny new tiles. A spectacular cool blue wetroom and powder room adjoin a new master bedroom; the headboard is the vintage brick fireplace.

Föhr

Take me away this long, lonely Monday to the island of Föhr off the north coast of Germany. To a hay barn cleverly converted to a holiday home. Ancient brick and thatch enclose a modern renovation that references the island's history of bed-boxes and the traditional blue green colours of Friesland. Wood and tile and 500m of blue polypropylene rope. By Swedish firm Karin Matz Arkitekt.

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Period modern

I found the following London home in the archives of one of my favourite real estate sites, Domus Nova, and immediately fell in love. The owner wanted to preserve the period details while ensuring the home worked for their modern family (with the help of Michaelis Boyd Associates). The weathered stone flooring (heated!) is the perfect rustic touch, the original panelling on the walls, internal window shutters and marble fireplaces were all preserved or carefully restored to create a unique and intiguing interior. This home is going right into my inspiration folder.

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Fougaro

Tina from Greece wrote us about a really cool renovation project in Nafplion that she blogged about. It's called Fougaro ("smokestack") - a former pre-WWII tomato cannery that closed in 1956, was bought at an auction in 1997 after 15 years or restoration and renovation, is now a fantastic venue dedicated to art and creativity complete with an Arts & Humanities library, a workshop, a café, a concert hall and, most importantly, an exhibition hall. WOW - what an incredible, inspirational place. (Photos via Yatzer and Fougaro's FB).

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Dion Seminara Architecture

I love a Queensland home. History and grace and a sense of place. Whether the typical timber and tin Queenslander, a gingerbread Federation style or the local version of the California Bungalow (it appears California colonised large tracts of between wars Australia ... who would have thought?), these homes are sort after by families in my part of the world. Lovely as they are they do not lend themselves to modern family life though. Faced with a warren of small rooms and generations of unsympathetic renos, home owners want open plan family living, dining and kitchen, extra bathrooms, car parking and swimming pools, decks for al fresco living. What to do? Often our inner city homes are demolished and a contemporary house constructed that bulges over the site and dwarfs the neighbours, changing the streetscape, imposing its "newness". Today I thought I'd share two homes that have been extended and renovated by Brisbane based Dion Seminara Architecture. Charming old homes now just right for modern family living still with a sense of history and place.

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