AU Renovation Trends Vol 30 No 11 AU Renovation Trends Vol 30 No 11 | Page 12

“There were other rooms upstairs that
had been added, along with dormer windows, at some stage. But these were not
working very well either.”
Aimer says the owner wanted to open
up the house to a new landscaped pool
area. But moving an existing garage in the
rear yard was the first challenge.
“We needed this area for the pool, and
we didn’t want to compromise the character of the house by putting a garage at the
front,” she says. “So we decided to excavate an area beneath the house at one side

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to accommodate a double garage with
internal stairs. This was the starting point
– it freed up the outdoor space.”
The architect says the entire lean-to
was then demolished and the rear of the
house rebuilt. The walls were pushed out
slightly to provide a bigger kitchen, dining
and family room, and a large covered deck
was introduced.
“With its long window seat and
painted tongue-and-groove ceiling, the
deck is reminiscent of an old-fashioned
sun porch. It faces north, so it gets the sun

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all day, and it has lovely views of mature
trees and Mt Eden.”
The extension features similar painted
weatherboards to the original house, and
has matching bay windows. It also has
large bifolding windows in the kitchen
that open out to the deck, creating a flush
serving hatch for the barbecue area.
“We kept the kitchen in the same place,
as the owner liked the way this worked,”
says Aimer. “But everything else changed.”
The new kitchen has a large island that
is almost a square. This provides plenty