California dreamingA grand vision can be transformative, writes Catherine Nikas-Boulos

It was a tired Californian bungalow on thelower north shore, well past its glory days,but that didn’t stop about 15 bidders

turning out on auction day in 2010 to dofierce battle.

Among the throng were Jon and JackiLang who, having sold their nearby housethat week, were by their own admissionmanic for the property.

Its location has become something of aboom area in the past 10 years, with olderItalian residents making way for youngfamilies, armed with with bright architecturaland design ideas.

At auction that day, most of the biddersfor the 615sq m block were builders lookingto capitalise, but the Langs were determinedto spoil their party.

‘‘The only other bidder who wasn’t abuilder was our other neighbour; we’regreat friends now, but he pushed us up30 grand,’’ Jon says.

‘‘We had a few criteria when we werelooking to buy and this property metthem all,’’ Jacki says.

‘‘The backyard had to be north facing andflat and we needed to see through to thebackyard from the kitchen to keep an eyeon the kids.

‘‘We love this area; it’s a walk toChatswood shops and five minutes to thecity — I would have been devastated if wehad missed out.’’

When the hammer dropped, the Langshad committed to buy the property for justunder $1.4 million. But the real challengewas to come.

Out with the oldQuality Constructions’ Steve Hancock saysthe project was a major undertaking.

All that remains of the property the Langsbid for was the double-brick facade and twoside exterior walls, which formed part of thestudy and three of the bedrooms.

‘‘Over the last 40 years this Californianbungalow had been through about threedifferent extensions,’’ he says.

‘‘It started out as double front,weatherboard in the middle and an asbestosbox at the end. That all had to go.’’

And go it did: all interior walls and, finally,the floors.

The facade and two side walls wereretained because they were double brickand didn’t interfere with their vision forthe renovation.

Also, Steve explains that had theydemolished the facade they would have hadto seek council permission to do a new build;as it was they got away with a compliantdevelopment with a private certifier.

The new part of the house, which includesthe main bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room and laundry, is single brick. Thevery model of contemporary living, the floor

plan now has a formal dining space at thecentre which adjoins a glassed-in courtyardand unfolds into an open-plan kitchen/livingarea which in turn flows on to a tiled, coveredentertaining area level with the grassedbackyard. A marble island bench takes prideof place in the kitchen with plenty of roomfor food preparation as well as casual meals.

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Renovate

The briefTo turn a a tired Californianbungalow into a child-friendly,modern home

SY Design sydesign.com.au

BUILDERQuality Constructions, buildingadviser Steve Hancock and salesco-ordinator Anna Barclay(pictured above)qualityconstructions.com.au

OWNERSJacki and Jon Lang (pictured top)and children Ruby, 5, and Max, 3

THE SOURCECalcutta marble Marble And CeramicCorp, marbleceramiccorp.com.auChandelier Northern Lighting,northernlighting.com.auWallpaper signatureprints.com.au

BEFORE

A glass courtyard enhances access to natural light

All points northAlthough Jon had already sketched out some ideas for the renovation before he bought the house, he sought the experience of SY Design to tweak it.

They came up with the concept ofpositioning the courtyard in the middle-rightsection of the house, which made the mainbedroom north-facing and allowed naturallight into the centre of the house.

‘‘If we didn’t put in the courtyard, wecould just have door after door (in thehallway) making it look a hotel corridor.’’

Finishing touchesWith the construction work out of the wayit was time for Jacki to take over the stylingof the interior.

She says she mixed minimalist withFrench provincial and warm but muted wallcolours, adding textured wallpaper in thedining room for extra oomph.

A mosaic tile feature wall contrasting withthe white fixtures and cabinets in thebathroom is a dramatic touch.

Wanting everything to appear seamless inthe kitchen, Jacki chose cabinets withouthandles and put the fridge in the pantry.

Everything has worked out to her liking,and although there were minor hiccupsalong the way, such as a semi-commercialsliding door that had to be re-installed threetimes, and is individually supported by astructural beam, she would build again.

‘‘We will be here for the kids’ primaryschool years and then probably builda two-storey home — I don’t thinkthis would be a practical home forteenagers,’’ she says.catherine.nikas@news.com.auPictures John Fotiadis

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Clear pictureThe exterior sliding doors

are semi-commercial with8mm thickened glass. The sheer

weight of them made them difficult toinstall, and they only went in three weeksbefore handover — after the kitchen andbathrooms were installed.