The whole project took about nine months. ‘We were living here while we did the work, which had its pros and cons,’ says Race. ‘It was difficult in many ways, but also meant we could totally keep an eye on the builders.’
And while ‘there weren’t any real skeletons’, as with any project of this scale, there are always unforeseen issues that crop up. ‘In our case, the electrics hadn’t been touched in years. And the house was heated with a hot-air heating system, which was costly to replace.’
But while lots needed re-doing, Race and her husband took care not to throw out everything. ‘Some elements of it were really nice,’ she says. ‘We kept the original staircase, which was an endangered hardwood, and re-used materials where we could, so we took off a long row of cladding, reconditioned it and used it in the utility room.’
These days the house is a chic family home that works on a practical level, too. ‘It’s very cool and calm inside, even on a really sunny day,’ says Race. ‘The kitchen/dining area has folding doors and in summer they’re mostly open, even when it’s not a particularly hot day. It’s a very inside-outside house – it feels almost Australian, in fact.’