State of the art: Spanish Mission House

For architect Pete Kennon, founding director of Kennon Studio, a client’s home should reflect their identity and be the place where they feel the greatest sense of belonging. It’s his job to create the perfect background for their lifestyle, possessions and everyday interactions, while ensuring a high degree of functionality. So when Thomas, an old art school friend, approached him to renovate the circa 1920 Spanish Mission-style home he’d recently purchased in Melbourne’s Malvern, Pete had no doubt he could deliver an outcome that perfectly captured the Thomas’s personality.

“Knowing Thomas so well enabled me to design intuitively,” Pete says. “And knowing he would want to hang his paintings on the walls definitely influenced the restraint I exercised in terms of colour and material palettes.” The resulting black and white scheme is as controlled as it is elegant, providing a framework for the client’s own artworks; powerful canvases inspired by the paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

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The kitchen and living areas are open, transforming the daily ritual of cooking into a memorable experience to be shared with friends and family.

Image: Caitlin Mills

Pete was also mindful to respect the home’s original structure and in doing so strike a balance between old and new. “The challenge in creating a functional floor plan via structural changes is [identifying] how to reinvigorate an old house in really poor condition without losing any of its character and soul,” he notes. Existing archways, windows and cornice details were retained, although the kitchen, now flanked by dining and sitting areas, was repositioned to the centre of the new, long living space to the north side of the house.

The kitchen, dining and sitting areas are open; nothing is hidden and, in this respect, the daily rituals of cooking and meal preparation are transformed into memorable experiences to be shared between everyone, not just those standing at the island bench or oven. Large porcelain sheets allow for clean surfaces without joints and the joinery that runs the length of the living areas, along the north-facing wall, effortlessly connects all three spaces. The fine, blackened steel door and window frames punctuate the whiteness, as do the kitchen’s curved tap and the recess above the stovetop, both in jet black.

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Expanses of white joinery and porcelain are punctuated with black details, such as a dramatic recess above the stovetop.

Image: Caitlin Mills

While the synergy of art and design resonates throughout the whole house, the bathroom also takes its cues from the home’s heritage. The floor, shower recess and vanity splashback’s terrazzo finish is a direct reference to the existing slab of terrazzo concrete at the entry vestibule. “It works well with the period of the home and I do really like the fact that we’re placing a light, contemporary wash over what is a beautiful style of architecture,” says Pete. “Overall, the design has generated a sense of belonging for a client who has been able to curate the space to his own tastes and needs.”