From the facade, this double-fronted Victorian dwelling in Hawthorn seems to be similar to another; character and attraction sitting quietly on the road.
Stroll by means of to the again of the home, and also you’re met with a intelligent, trendy extension that opens out onto a leafy courtyard and pool by means of massive sliding doorways and an intimate sunken lounge.
Renovated over two phases and 18 years, this dwelling has been expertly introduced as much as trendy requirements by its house owners Ian Provan, proprietor of ProvanBuilt, and his spouse Kate, a advertising and media advisor.
The house was initially in-built 1880 and was one of many first properties constructed on the Grace Park Property. ‘Apparently it was the Physician’s home,’ Ian provides.
Its proximity to the park — proper on its yard — and the attractive Victorian entrance facade, had been what drew Ian and Kate to the house within the first place.
‘It’s the perfect location,’ Ian says. ‘Household pleasant, shut to move, cafes, wine bars, bike trails, the Yarra, and the CBD.’
The house because it stands as we speak is the results of two main renovations, every marking a unique chapter in Ian and Kate’s lives.
The primary, almost 18 years in the past, started with a easy sketch from B.E. Structure on ‘a little bit of yellow hint paper’ that helped cement their imaginative and prescient. On the time, they had been additionally constructing a enterprise — ProvanBuilt — and beginning a household, so the method was hands-on and deeply private.
The second transformation got here in 2017, when Molecule Studio designed the addition of a brand new higher stage. By then, the temporary had advanced to making a extra layered, versatile dwelling for a rising household.
Materially, the palette balances sturdiness with heat. Polished concrete flooring anchor the primary dwelling areas, offset by timber joinery and wall linings that convey softness and texture.
In fact, working with a 100-plus-year-old constructing got here with challenges. Privateness was one — solved by means of intelligent screening, skylights, and the selective use of reflective and acoustic glazing.
Built-in joinery is a quiet hero, concealing the realities of household life and permitting areas to stay calm and uncluttered.
After which there are the views, and the robust connection to the outside — not simply by means of the expansive sliding doorways, however in the best way the backyard, designed by Amanda Oliver, is framed from nearly each room.
The park past the again fence supplies a continually shifting backdrop — morning gentle filtering by means of bushes, the occasional passerby, the reassuring presence of inexperienced area in an in any other case city setting.
Now, with nothing left so as to add or refine, the choice by Ian and Kate to promote feels much less like an ending and extra like a pure development.
For its subsequent house owners, ‘Moira’ presents one thing more and more uncommon: a house that has already carried out the laborious work.
101 Energy Avenue, Hawthorn, is listed on the market with Daniel Bradd and James Tostevin from Marshall White and can go to public sale at 11.30am AEST, Saturday Could 9, 2026.
