AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN | 89
LIVING this page top and opposite David’s partner Karen Moores loves this reading
spot. With floor-to-ceiling windows on the north face, the room is lovely and light
year-round. Poltrona Frau Antohn sofa and Cubo ottoman, Cult. Serico Slate rug,
The Rug Establishment. George Nelson Cigar Bubble lights, Spence & Lyda. Walter
Knoll Andoo lounge chairs, Living Edge. French-oak flooring, Queensland Timber
Flooring. Artwork by Robert Dunlop.
Designer buy: Foscarini Fork floor lamp, $2010, Space.
DECK Newly extended, the north-facing deck is a favourite place to sit and watch
the world go by. Still outdoor furniture, Brown Jordan. For Where to Buy, see page 188.T
here’s something very special about a childhood
home, the place where memories are created and
stowed. For David Dodd, this riverfront property on
Queensland’s Gold Coast is that place. But this home
is no time capsule.
The three-storey, three-bedroom house was designed circa
1959 by well-known Brisbane architect Bill Conrad of Conrad
Gargett. David’s parents bought it in the late 1960s and enjoyed
many happy years there raising their family.
By 2013, however, the house was a shadow of its former self.
“Mum had moved into a nursing home so no one had been living
there for two years,” says David. “Everyone said I should knock it
down but I couldn’t – the house has my family’s DNA in it.”
Having made the decision to revamp rather than rebuild, David
contacted architect Paul Uhlmann, who decided that while there
were serious problems to address, the home had plenty to offer.
“The roof and side walls were made from asbestos, there were
some tired additions and a lot of the original character features
had been covered up over the years,” says Paul. “On the positive
side, the house was well situated to take advantage of its river
views and had an excellent layout with good cross-ventilation.”
David gave Paul three criteria: don’t alter the 250m2 footprint;
keep the Modernist character and feel; and don’t enclose the pool.
After attending to the necessary structural repairs, Paul set
about restoring and enhancing the home’s charm. The ground
and second floors needed only cosmetic makeovers, but on the
first floor, Paul decided to open the kitchen up to the adjacent
sitting and dining areas, and create more space by extending
the north-facing deck adjoining the living room, which is stepped
down from the open-plan zone on a split level.
Paul’s colleague, interior designer Sarah Payne, took charge
of reinstating the character. For the newly open-plan space on
the first floor, she designed feature joinery with sharp contours;
a nod to the home’s angular roofline. On the ground floor, >