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FLOORPLAN

HOMES

CREATING A HOME wasn’t a task Andrew O’Brien took on lightly.

The Melbourne-based artist went to great lengths to create a beautiful,

considered space for his family: wife Georgie Corke and two-year-old

twins Leni and Beckett. The project even took him to Italy, where he

hand-selected the pieces of travertine that would go on their floors and

walls, ensuring the veins matched in the right places.

The couple bought the Georgian property in the 1990s, intending to

turn the top two levels into a three-bedroom home and the ground floor

into an apartment. It’s in East Melbourne, an old part of town that has

significant pre-Victorian buildings. The building is also only 300m away

from the CBD and ringed by parks. However, it was run-down and had

a 1980s-style renovation, and for many years was rented out. Andrew

didn’t start work on the renovation until the end of 2013, a month

before the twins were due to be born. “My approach was to gut the

internals and start again,” he says. “I had the best intentions, no

budget, and ended spending more than I anticipated. I didn’t compromise

on the finishes and had the best trades to help with the key elements.”

The project took almost nine months to complete, but Andrew says

the process was satisfying because he was hands-on with the

carpentry and joinery in the kitchen. Certain finishes required skilled

artisans. The walls are finished with Marmorino Veneziano plaster,

a rough finish, and the ceilings are polished plaster, another Venetian

technique. For the floors, he used vein-cut Italian travertine from the

same quarry used in many Roman buildings. “I wanted to end-match

all the ‘veins’ to ensure the floor had lots of interest,” he says.

“This was great to do as the floor really is the key design element.”

Of the process, Andrew says: “The main obstacles are getting

committed trades who know and understand the artisanal process

required to get a super finish. And don’t underestimate the time it takes

text to complete work. Days can run into weeks and months very quickly.” R

natalie walton |

photography

sharyn cairns |

stylist

emily ward |

floorplans

lisa burden

real living

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