Houzz Tour: A Victorian Sydney Terrace Gets an Eclectic Modern Update
A keen eye for colour and collectibles accomodates a modern twist on Victoriana in a Redfern terrace
Passion and personality flourish in architect Scott Weston’s renovated Victorian terrace in Redfern, Sydney. Responsible for many Sydney home designs, Weston is no stranger to creating spaces that embody the heart and soul of the homeowners. It’s in his home, however — the aptly named ‘Villa Redferno’ — where you see the ultimate representation of his true design philosophy: a home must fuse together a unique sense of individual style and lifestyle.
“My home is not a cookie-cutter house; it’s an individual house to mine and my partner’s taste, a unique statement to myself and how I live,” Weston explains. “This is how we view other clients, by looking at their character profile, how they live, how they function. It’s not about designing a Type A. We want to take people on a journey that’s unique to them, and my home is no different.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Scott Weston and his partner SMH Journalist Andrew Hornery
Location: Redfern, Sydney
Size: 350 square metres; 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms
Cost: $550,000
“My home is not a cookie-cutter house; it’s an individual house to mine and my partner’s taste, a unique statement to myself and how I live,” Weston explains. “This is how we view other clients, by looking at their character profile, how they live, how they function. It’s not about designing a Type A. We want to take people on a journey that’s unique to them, and my home is no different.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Scott Weston and his partner SMH Journalist Andrew Hornery
Location: Redfern, Sydney
Size: 350 square metres; 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms
Cost: $550,000
Well-determined colour pops at every corner, adding personality to the traditional bones of the home. Dark wooden floorboards run throughout the house adding a connection between the Victorian-style schemes at the front and the modern living space at the back.
While the modern half is accented with various nods to Victoriana, the opposite is the case at the front of the house where Weston mixes contemporary pieces, such as a fuchsia pink Tretford goat hair rug, with authentic finishes such as dark wooden floorboards.
While the modern half is accented with various nods to Victoriana, the opposite is the case at the front of the house where Weston mixes contemporary pieces, such as a fuchsia pink Tretford goat hair rug, with authentic finishes such as dark wooden floorboards.
Having restored the terrace to it’s former 1880's glory, Weston wanted the front of the house to be in keeping with its Victorian heritage and created two formal living spaces.
“This was a personal design exercise reflecting my taste and my lifestyle,” he describes. “The robustness of the rooms and their height and proportion can cope with the colour and unusual elements.”
“This was a personal design exercise reflecting my taste and my lifestyle,” he describes. “The robustness of the rooms and their height and proportion can cope with the colour and unusual elements.”
In one formal living room, Weston cleverly saturated the space with a single colour, reflecting the intensity of how pattern and decoration was used in the Victorian period. He choose a deep Peacock teal to envelop the space and then reflected this colour in the chosen furniture.
Using his eye for colour, Weston opted to accent the teal blue with its opposite on the colour spectrum – pinks and reds. By opening up the bi-fold doors, we can see a shot of that colour coming from the hand-printed wallpaper in the dining room.
“The embossed silver cupboard used to be a fireplace and there was no point putting another one in that wouldn’t be used,” Weston says, “so we chose this piece to reflect the ghosts of former fireplaces past.”
Weston had the bespoke rug made to add colour and define the seating area. It plays on the colours found in his array of collectibles and art finds.
12 unexpected colour pairings
“The embossed silver cupboard used to be a fireplace and there was no point putting another one in that wouldn’t be used,” Weston says, “so we chose this piece to reflect the ghosts of former fireplaces past.”
Weston had the bespoke rug made to add colour and define the seating area. It plays on the colours found in his array of collectibles and art finds.
12 unexpected colour pairings
There is a rich history to this house that’s full of design integrity. Expensive collectables are mixed with inexpensive objects in a clever way, adding maximum character without being too lavish.
“You don’t have to have everything here and now,” Weston says. “You add layers and wait for objects that really mean something to you. It’s this journey that makes a home.”
“You don’t have to have everything here and now,” Weston says. “You add layers and wait for objects that really mean something to you. It’s this journey that makes a home.”
Pattern envelops the dining room and a mirror-topped table reflects the colour in the space. The traditional, hand-printed wallpaper was chosen to juxtapose the deep teal and embossed silver laminates in the adjacent living room.
“It’s a formal dining room for special occasions – perfect for anniversaries and parties,” explains Weston. “And it opens up nicely to the back of the house for after-dinner drinks.”
7 unstuffy ways with a formal dining set
“It’s a formal dining room for special occasions – perfect for anniversaries and parties,” explains Weston. “And it opens up nicely to the back of the house for after-dinner drinks.”
7 unstuffy ways with a formal dining set
The back of the property was demolished, including the downstairs living space and the bedrooms upstairs. The kitchen used to be outdoors as the breezeway of the terrace. Weston knocked it through to the boundaries to create a larger space with a link to the courtyard outside.
The pattern on the splashback is another nod to the Victorian heritage of the property and another example of how traditional features were pulled into the modern spaces within the home.
The block of scarlet red from the cabinet doors serves to accent the otherwise white walls.
“It ain’t a beige house,” Weston asserts.
10 weird and wonderful splashback ideas
The block of scarlet red from the cabinet doors serves to accent the otherwise white walls.
“It ain’t a beige house,” Weston asserts.
10 weird and wonderful splashback ideas
Weston’s prized artwork collection is slowly filling his living room wall and is one of his favourite elements of the house. An selection of treasures is proudly displayed – from an Eva Breuer print to an original Hello Kitty clock.
“This is my total overlay of a liveable space,” he says. “I love artwork. I love collecting objects. And this has become the personality of my home and is what reflects me.”
“This is my total overlay of a liveable space,” he says. “I love artwork. I love collecting objects. And this has become the personality of my home and is what reflects me.”
It certainly is a liveable space. The terrace has an incredible softness and calmness about it, undeterred by the eclectic pieces around it.
“Some people can get bombarded with the visualness of the space, but if you take it all out – you take out all the colourful accessories and finishes purchased – it’s just European white walls. Sure, there’s joinery of colour, but everything else is bone and chocolate brown,” he describes.
“Some people can get bombarded with the visualness of the space, but if you take it all out – you take out all the colourful accessories and finishes purchased – it’s just European white walls. Sure, there’s joinery of colour, but everything else is bone and chocolate brown,” he describes.
Most guests gravitate towards the living space at the back of the home, where Weston and Hornery cook, eat and entertain. To increase indoor-outdoor connections, Weston added steel bi-fold doors that open out onto the courtyard beyond.
11 ways to create indoor-outdoor connections
11 ways to create indoor-outdoor connections
A crepe myrtle shrub tucked into a raised red planter adds a focal point to the courtyard while dividing the outdoor area into two zones: a peaceful section and an outdoor dining area.
A sunshine-drenched structure encloses an alfresco dining area at the back of the garden that’s perfect for summer entertaining.
“On the southern side of the garden we ran a timber seat the full length of the space. It creates a nice ambient light level in the courtyard,” says Weston.
Upstairs his-and-hers bathrooms provide another fun and unexpected element. In the blue corner, bathroom storage is set behind the mirror to provide a clean feel offset by floor-to-ceiling tiles.
The pink bathroom features a built-in bath in place of the blue room’s wetroom shower.
Weston is a firm believer in designing your dream home and not the dream home of the home’s future owners. “I don’t conform to the ideology that homes have to be beige, boring and sellable,” he says. “We tried to create something unique and special and that will also sell. It’s not a precious space or a gallery, it’s a house I live in and I would hope that translates to future buyers.”
Weston is a firm believer in designing your dream home and not the dream home of the home’s future owners. “I don’t conform to the ideology that homes have to be beige, boring and sellable,” he says. “We tried to create something unique and special and that will also sell. It’s not a precious space or a gallery, it’s a house I live in and I would hope that translates to future buyers.”
The bedroom is just as witty and eclectic as the rest of the house, but there’s a symmetry to it that provides calm.
It’s Weston’s affinity for embracing decoration and embellishment that allows him to choose a collection of pieces which add personality, but which don’t disrupt the liveable purpose of each room.
It’s Weston’s affinity for embracing decoration and embellishment that allows him to choose a collection of pieces which add personality, but which don’t disrupt the liveable purpose of each room.
The master bedroom leads onto a balcony with cut-glass circles providing a modern take on the traditional ironwork balcony at the front of the house.
“The redesign was about adding to the house but not going beyond the existing footprint of the property,” describes Weston. “Instead I wanted to add a modern spin and correlate between old and new in respect of the home’s heritage.”
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“The redesign was about adding to the house but not going beyond the existing footprint of the property,” describes Weston. “Instead I wanted to add a modern spin and correlate between old and new in respect of the home’s heritage.”
MORE HOMES
Collecting over time in Canberra
An eclectic and colourful sanctuary in Melbourne
Eclectic and global style in Sydney
Natural beauty and art in the Adelaide hills
Having grown up in Papua New Guinea, Weston was surrounded by tribal traditions and colours that have inevitably influenced his design style. His home is mixed with eclectic pieces, valued finds, as well as rich materials and thoroughly thought-out finishes.