Stalking, with a reader’s help (keep stalking Kiran), an 1870s brick home in Birchgrove, Sydney. Harbour views (albeit through neighbours’ properties) and high end finishes for this stylish and elegant inner-city gem. Once again don’t miss the video to get a better sense of the space. Link here while it lasts.

I was just going to pontificate about style and work and weekends like I usually do but the architects, Williams Burton Leopardi, describe this building in Kent Town, South Australia so much better than any glib badinage I could come up with.

The workplace today needs community, connection and inclusion. Base 64 is set up as a community of cohabitating businesses under the umbrella of former Internode chief Simon Hackett. Seen as a technology incubator, it eschews the short term excesses of a Silicon Valley “fun park” office for an emphasis on belonging, integration with the outdoors, rich, lush, tactile materials and a sense of comfort and well being. All this is underpinned by a strict environmental responsibility and adaptive re-use.

I’m ruthless when I real estate stalk. I flick from property to property with nary a second thought. Yes, bookmark. No, move on. A stalking machine. But when I saw this Paddington, Sydney property I think I caught my breath. Stylist and author Sibella Court‘s old shop and home is for sale. I fell in love with this building the first time I walked through the door. I spent far too much time exploring all her treasures for sale. I bought a few trinkets, a couple of her books and a knitted rat dissection (!) and on returning home told everyone they had to go. Every time I was in Sydney I would visit, quietly, reverently like a overwhelmed child in a sweet shop. I even planned to stay there when it was listed on airbnb but perhaps I have left that too late. I need not worry about her shop though. The Society Inc has a new home not far across town in a warehouse in St Peters. I wish I had the money to buy Sibella’s old home. Is it creepy to say that I’d keep it just the same way? The bijou time warp kitchen, the quirky bathroom, the walls and floors and all. It would be perfect for my ever expanding collections. The link to the listing is here while it lasts.

P.S. If Australians readers have not been watching Sibella’s new TV series Restoration Australia you absolutely must! I’m hooked. You can catch up on the first two episodes here.

I really think that the national pastime of Australians is renovating and the the holy grail is the house extension. We all have dreams of taking a small, pokey period property and blowing out the back to create an open plan inside/outside family relaxation and entertaining space that doubles our floor space and exponentially explodes our enjoyment of home life. Like this fab reno and extension of a Kensington, Sydney house by Angus Mackenzie Architect.

The face it presents to the street is quite stern. Box-like, no adornment, a little severe. The architects call it a “nod to the Victorian character of the street without any of the attendant frou frou.” Open the door and the mood changes. Although still minimalist there is a warmth conveyed but the lightest of pastel shades and the extensive use of wood. The small space is enhanced by furniture and fittings that stand on narrow legs allowing longer sight lines while a double height void opens up the room. I’d love to see how this house mellows over time as the new owners put their stamp on the clean contemporary lines. House in Double Bay by Sydney-based architectural studio Tribe.

Photography by Katherine Lu.