Gracious tradition meets modern family living

A gorgeous grand home in Gordon, on the North Shore, that's set on vast park-like grounds with a fabulous pool.

There’s lots to love about this truly grand home, but for me it’s the meeting of gracious traditional architecture and detail with a contemporary rear addition and massive deck that makes it so covetable and livable.

Built in 1905, Glengowrie has beautiful original features like a wide wrap around verandah with banks of French doors, massive rooms with high ceilings, marble fireplaces, window seats and detailed interior timber fretwork.

The original house has been extended with a modern renovation that has added a wing with children’s TV room and bedrooms, as well as parents’ retreat wing. Upstairs is a separate self contained teen or visitors retreat with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and large living area.

This house is perfect for family life and entertaining with so many living zones. It has separate formal and informal living and dining areas, family room, study, 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Then there’s the expansive gardens – 1800 square metres! – and the huge entertaining deck.

The absolutely stunning formal living and dining rooms have been opened up to each other while still retaining the original working fireplace as a feature.

The formal dining room has a window seat with period detail and opens via double French doors onto the wide wrap around verandah.

The open plan rear of the house includes the kitchen (with a butler’s pantry), and family dining and living areas, which open to the entertaining deck and views of the garden and pool.

This room is labelled as a study on the floorplan, but is being used as a lovely 6th bedroom with the cot fitting into the nook purpose built for a desk.

The contemporary extension features bifold doors that open up the kitchen and family living spaces to the entertaining deck.

This home has such a wonderful feeling and it’s one that I’m very familiar with because I styled it for the sale. I helped the owners to enhance their existing style, working with what they had and adding additional pieces to create more character and warmth to connect with potential buyers.

The house itself truly is magnificent and by considering the details of the interiors – decluttering and refining the aesthetic of each room – it’s being shown off in the best way possible.

Read full article on decorreport.com