THE CLUB HOUSE
In 2016, the clients bought The Club House intending to renovate. An architect was engaged but circumstances intervened, followed by the pandemic years, leaving the clients unsure as to how to proceed. In debating whether or not to sell though, the residence’s charm, its heritage story and leafy streetscape simply held too much sway to allow it to be passed to new owners.“I remember saying to my husband, “I can’t drive past one day and watch someone else do this,” the client recalls.
Located in Malvern’s Gascoigne Estate, the Victorian Italianate villa is strikingly singular in many ways. Built in 1890, its construction was completed just before the Depression. It remained as a display home for the Estate and was encompassed by the Royal Melbourne Golf Course, remaining that way for two decades before other residences of Edwardian design began to emerge, defining a visual departure and rendering The Club House with its own stylistic identity.
Post-Covid, friends of the clients introduced them to Castley McCrimmon Architects. “From the moment we met them we just knew they were the right fit. They walked in and got the vision straight away. They were sketching on their pads and it was really beautiful. A year later, we brought Simone Haag in. We were worried that the architects would be upset but the minute we mentioned Simone’s name they were so excited to work with her.”
In a seamless collaboration, alongside deep trust between architect, interior decorator and client, The Club House was forged into a place of enduring beauty. Drawing from storied heritage details and the surrounding context — “our street is lined with plane trees and we love them so much. One thing the architects did that we love is ensure that you can see the trees from every room in the house. So you’ve got this beautiful view year round.” — a kinship between nature, built form and aesthetics was poetically established.
“We went in with just our bed. Simone did every single piece of furniture in the house which was so exciting for us. She picked paint colours, everything. No one questioned her. She is the master of what she does.”
~ Client
Unfolding from the colours and expressions of stonework, the muted tones of the kitchen cabinetry and each window and skylight’s leafy outlook, furniture and styling pieces are tonal and tilted into whimsicality through a meticulous approach to design. Paint has been employed as a colour wash, furniture reupholstered in unexpected prints, and stone continued throughout in a myriad of expressions. Textures are plentiful and rich, layering an atmosphere of warmth and tactility, one that is immediately welcoming and gently indulgent.
“The study is entirely green,” explains the client of a colour treatment that signifies a level of execution filled with allure. “Simone’s painted the whole room from the fireplace down to the shutters. Even the covers of the downlights and the heaters are painted in the same green and it’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone else do that and people walk in and just think it’s incredible.”
Coming from a previously entirely white house, the client was at times nervous about Simone’s approach to colour. The outcome has become a favourite aspect of The Club House and one that has become one of the pillars of its design language. Illuminated by Murano chandeliers sourced from France and decorated with a curation of ceramics, accentuated fabric weave, burnished metals and the pattern language of timber grain, striated stone and gauzy linen, a harmonious reconciliation has been made between the embellished ornamentation of the residence’s original construction and its new precise artistry.
“I started crying when I first walked into our finished home. I just couldn’t believe it. All the different textiles that Simone’s used are incredible. I’d never think they’d work together but oh my god they just do and that to me is quite striking. My brief to Simone was that I wanted my home to look like a boutique hotel. Classic elements with an edge of cool. Simone absolutely did that."
~ Client
"Meeting Simone put me at ease straight away. She’s amazing. I think, in other designers we met with, they spoke about their style and didn’t seem to want to divert too much from that but Simone was much more of a chameleon. She worked with what we wanted. She couldn’t have read me and what I wanted any better. Some things were proposed and I just couldn’t understand the appeal at the time but felt like I was in good hands. Now I see them in the places they were always meant to be, beside pieces that just compliment them so perfectly and I think to myself, “That’s next level. She had the vision the whole time.” If I had any advice for future clients it would be to trust her. Trust her vision.”
~ Client
