Homes from the ’80s scream for attention, but this river gem is different

Houses built in the 1980s often ‘screamed for attention’, a feature of the era’s brash, materialistic tendencies. But a 40-odd-year-old home overlooking inner Melbourne’s Yarra River couldn’t be more at odds with that reputation.

Concealed from the street and enveloped in a lush garden setting, its interiors were redesigned by architect Susi Leeton and the garden by landscape architect Myles Baldwin. They show what can be achieved when two great minds get together.

River House’s interiors were redesigned by architect Susi Leeton, with garden landscaping by Myles Baldwin.Credit:

It also helps when the clients have faith in the designers, and in the case of Leeton, it was her second time working on the 1980s house – initially making her mark 15 years ago. “The first renovation was for a family with young children. This time, it was about creating spaces for adult children, as well as areas for entertaining family and friends,” says Leeton.

The slope of the site and connecting the four levels provided one of the main challenges. So, as well as stairs, there’s now a new lift core that forms both interior and also exterior access.

“Our first intervention this time was transforming what was formerly a carport into a garage with a roof garden,” says Leeton, pointing out the steep driveway and rock face that had to be negotiated.

Given this time around the focus was on the parents rather than young children, the entry and main bedroom suite can be found on the top level, with its generous wraparound terrace and a swimming pool that allows for the most dramatic views and natural light. And to create a seamless transition from indoors to outside, the limestone floors continue to the terrace.

While the top level is primarily the parents’ domain, the level below contains the main living area, with kitchen, dining and living. Unlike many kitchens of the 1980s (think high gloss joinery and sparkling quartz benchtops), the new kitchen caters to a more sophisticated taste. As well as a mirror-fronted built-in bar and a separate pantry, the kitchen includes a unit that ‘reads’ more akin to a piece of furniture, with its granite bench and drawers.

Pivotal to the space is a freestanding brass table with fine tapered legs, designed by Leeton in collaboration with David Barbera. There are also now more options for eating, either at a dining table nearby or in the customised breakfast nook that literally feels embedded in the tree canopy. To strengthen the sense of the outdoors, Leeton also planted a tree under a skylight (part of the former renovation). “You’re mindful of the garden wherever you happen to be,” she says. This renovation also includes a new courtyard garden framed by a curved glass wall.

New limed oak timber floors create a tactile and more tranquil feel.Credit:

Some of the existing 1980s features have also been addressed.

A new courtyard garden was added, framed by a curved glass wall.Credit:

The open fireplace in the main living area, for example, is now framed in polished plaster, with a new limestone plinth that adds a soft and velvet-like touch. New limed oak timber floors also create a tactile and more tranquil feel, allowing the views through the home’s large picture windows to be the focus. And in the main bedroom, Leeton replaced the fairly clunky timber window frames with fine aluminium that disappears into cavity walls to allow the house and garden to appear as one.

“The brief was to create a calm and restful environment – a place where your shoulders immediately start to relax as soon as you arrive home,” says Leeton, who was mindful that the garden as much as the interior spaces should not – unlike some ’80s homes – ‘shout’ rather than whisper.

“Even the mirror used for the wall of the bar in the kitchen is slightly aged,” she adds.

As with many homes reconceptualised for life without young children, some of the rooms have been repurposed. There’s now a larger home office and a library, and there’s also a guest bedroom. The next few years will see the owners’ adult children come and go. But it’s now a house designed for a couple who want to be surrounded by furniture, objects and art that give them pleasure, appreciating the fluid spaces as much as the verdant surrounds.

“It’s still a robust house from the 1980s. But it now has a gentler feel,” says Leeton.

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