1940s Cottage - Bowral NSW
This house had a face lift in the 1990’s doubling its size from a simple 2 bed 1 bath cottage to a 4 bed 2 bath cottage focused on indoor life, there being no outdoor living areas at all. In 2023 we doubled the size again to create a 4 bed (2 of them as primary suites) 4 bath, 2 car garage home with a large back patio and pool. The original house was not insulated, or doubled glazed (temps of 0-4c in winter are not uncommon in this area) and a failed storm water drainage system resulted in rain water backing up and flooding the house inside, rendering it uninhabitable. Thanks to the ensuing mould, all that could be saved was the chimney and front door, and a few frames and trusses. It was important to the street scape to rebuild in a style that fitted in and being a semi rural location, we took the opportunity to use an external skin that includes little to no flammable materials. The end result is a long building with generously proportioned rooms and ceiling heights throughout. All built with aging in place in mind.
The Cottage as it presented after it’s 1990s make over and how it looks now. The cute face it presented to the street hid the lack of insulation and internal flooding. The garden which was clearly someones pride and joy some decades back, largely neglected and overgrown. Still structurally sound, for the most part, we had to take it back to the bones. The tiled roof was replaced with tin and the timber weather boards with cement sheeting planks and the windows replaced with double glazed, pre painted metal framed versions of the style that were already in situ. This should stand the house in good stead should bush fires sweep through at some point in the future.
Where once an asbestos shed stood, a fibreglass pool and stone look tile wall backing stand, allowing views across to the nearby Oxley Hill.
A simple colour pallet inside and out of ebony, tan, grey, stone and soft white, allows the art and furniture to add the contrasts.
You can see the progress here, with the roof and window changes, the addition of the garage and part of what would become the great room, squaring out that end of the house. The forest of frames inside give an indication of what could be saved and what had to be replaced.
