GASCOIGNE HOUSE

FURNITURE ART & OBJECT
Team Simone Haag 

PHOTOGRAPHY
Fiona Storey 

2023 IDEA AWARDS
Shortlisted - Colour
Shortlisted - Residential Interior Curation

Named for its location in the historically significant Gascoigne Estate in Melbourne’s leafy suburb of Malvern, Gascoigne House retains its existing heritage canvas while crafting a discerning, contemporary iteration through interior decoration. A new atmosphere has been layered upon the old, unfurling to both emphasise and juxtapose the home’s original Federation details — stained glass windows, ornate mouldings, wall panelling, picture rails and window seats — creating an elegant and deeply relevant home for a family of four.

Addressing the entry and front two rooms, dining area and bedrooms, a curation of furniture, lighting and styling pieces shift the ambiance with the period charm becoming a touchstone from which to build a narrative. Stepping into the home, a custom Daniel Barbera marble console is the first indicator of a thoughtful negotiation between eras achieved through a dedication to classic pieces. This methodology is carried throughout the adjoining rooms which abide by the same sentiment of pairing classicism with vintage so that heritage becomes the natural mediator.

The formality which would have once applied in the front rooms of Gascoigne House has been softened and a new use instilled through less rigid decoration. A library and TV room have  emerged, distinguished by pieces which feel ever so slightly audacious yet befitting to define a bespoke, transcendental style reflective of the family who lives here. The sweep of a Daniel Boddam Wave Sofa, the domed silhouettes of highly individualised table lamps, travertine occasional tables and aptly named ‘arc’ coffee tables in tarnished brass converse with the home’s curved architectural thresholds, while the expressive stone in the entry console is continued through both rooms by Viola Calacatta plinths and a Monument Shelving System from Le Chance which anchors the room with its graceful art deco artistry.

Surrounded by covertly grand details which retain the memory of Gascoigne House’s genesis, a connectedness and unfussy intimacy has been introduced by its interior decoration, a relaxed atmosphere poised for memory-making and elevated by a distinctly high-end, cultured beauty.