In my career I haven’t come across a more beautifully resolved piece of architecture as the original Leesthorpe house, that is also so reflective of its time. It’s not easy to get the proportions so ‘perfect’ but when I look at that front façade, I think the original architect got it just right.

So, we were honoured to be given this opportunity to create a narrative that didn’t take away from the incredible richness and detail of this home. We decided to create a visually neutral extension, as not to compete with the original Leesthorpe house in terms of materiality and detail, or make any reference to that era of architecture. We needed to work in a complementary way. It’s like a little sculpture that’s gently added on.

The new extension replaced a previous smaller extension, and is hidden from the street, only gently revealing itself. We didn’t want to just create a box, because that would have seen a missed opportunity, so we created a monochromatic sculptural form, connected only to the original house through a glazed connection.

On the existing southern elevation, the verandah wrapped around, but on the north side it didn’t so we treated both sides differently. On the south, where the owner would drive to the garage every day we curved the façade as a reference to the curved shapes of a car.

Internally, it was important to be able to look back from the new structure and see the original house, which was achieved in a number of ways through the new openings. Then on the opposite side we opened right up to the extensive views beyond the site towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We completed the design concept and DA approval then the client engaged Mim Design for the construction phase through to completion. We had a great deal of respect for each other and formed a very close working relationship. I think Mim is absolutely brilliant! The way she has conceived the interior spaces—she’s taken our concept and made it even better. There’s a powder room that’s her little pride and joy. Architecturally we got a little bit stumped with that part of the house. It was a room that was so awkward with some external windows we couldn’t touch, and she came up with this absolutely amazing concept and execution of that powder room. It takes a very talented designer to resolve, which she did. It’s unique and very creatively carried out.

At the centre of the house, the new main stair is the pivot between the old and new. It was the most important connection on every level, both physically and aesthetically. From the front door it wasn’t something we wanted you to see straight away, so the house became a series of layers. With the first layer Mim did a fantastic job of retaining the traditional feel of the foyer, then as you move down the passageway the stair opens up into the twenty first century. The stair became the heart of the house; a sculptural celebration connecting all the floors, with the skylight over drawing light down to all levels.

It’s also important to state that this project was delivered by a very strong team. The project architect on this was Bronwyn Litera, and she really did an amazing job of steering this through its aesthetic development. She was very passionate about it. She has her own practice now doing beautiful work. She’s very much a part of our alumni and I’m very proud of her to be honest—she’s amazing.

This was a complicated build, with so many curves and changes of angle, but Bellevarde was so good at resolving all those complicated junctions and curves. Visiting the site, I was so impressed with their care and the quality they achieved. That staircase really is the showpiece of how they’ve achieved the most incredible outcome. When we first visited the house, it hadn’t been renovated for a while and much of it was deteriorating, so the way they’ve also restored the original house is phenomenal.

Your average builder could never do this. A design like this needs a Bellevarde—they need each other. To achieve that form—there are no joints there—that’s Bellevarde. What the designer dreams about, you’re going to get in 3D as a completed building with Bellevarde. Bellevarde refine the design on site to make it work. Anywhere you look, it is hard to find a defect.

For us, this is one of our projects we’re most proud of, firstly because the client went with our design, and then to have found a builder who knew what they were doing, to turn it into a beautiful piece of architecture.

I’ve always wanted to work with Bellevarde, and this is such a beautiful project to be our first with them. Hopefully there will be many more.

When I first met Craig and Ali, they lived overseas. They reached out to me to spend a day viewing some houses for sale in Sydney together. We visited ‘Leesthorpe’ which stood out as soon as we saw it—the minute we walked through the entry we could see the possibility of opening up the view line all the way to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and North Sydney skyline. It is such a beautiful house with so many original features that really resonated with all of us on the day and beyond.

The clients engaged Stafford Architecture and together, we worked on the planning to design a home for a young family with three children, centred around a connection to the outside environment and external landscape.

‘Leesthorpe’ had a 15-year-old renovation and extension with an existing stair in the centre of the hallway blocking North Sydney and Sydney Harbour Bridge views, and a main bedroom on level one with low ceilings restricting the outlook. The aim of our design was to open the home to the views and increase the ceiling heights throughout as well as adding additional bedrooms and living zones.

Bruce Stafford created the DA for approval, alongside our studio undertaking the interior planning. After DA approval, Mim Design became involved in the architectural production of documentation.

Bruce is a gentleman to work with. Not only does he have a great design sensibility, but he is also a very good communicator. We both became invested in the design outcome and respected each other; it was a very collaborative approach with the clients. The whole team at Stafford Architecture who worked on that project were incredible to work with.

It was understood that ‘Leesthorpe’ is a significant house that needed a very strong design journey throughout the interior design, architecture and landscape to bring all the elements together.

Once DA was completed, our studio documented the entire project. The interiors were composed to a high level of detail to ensure everything ‘new’ worked together with the historical elements of the house. We delivered the design development and the tender package, through to construction. Our team also worked with Craig and Ali on the furniture selection, procurement and styling.

The heritage aspects of the house posed quite a challenge. We wanted to replace the old stair with a flowing, contemporary design that connected the new build with the existing and had to work hard to create a cohesive interrelationship between the new ceilings and original ceilings. Bellevarde really helped us to successfully achieve this with their construction methodology throughout.

The new stair is a concrete structure with a complex organic geometry. Bellevarde were fastidious in the construction process—every corner, junction, and stair underside was considered, from the balustrade down to how all the finishes would connect over three levels.

The stair had to allow for illumination into the stairwell and celebrate the new extension while paying homage to the historical part of the home. It was an integral element that unified the home. The softness of the finishes related back to the heritage section of the house, while the artistic and unique shape responded to the contemporary architecture. It is a stair that is a pleasure to walk up and down with a seamless design and construction.

After receiving Bellevarde’s booklets over the years, we saw they could deliver quite complex and highly detailed projects, so naturally we recommended Bellevarde to our clients.

Lewis Townsend, our site manager, was amazing to work with. This project was ambitious and as our studio is based in Melbourne and the project was in Sydney, we needed a team who could understand the importance of that level of detail. When Lewis had a question, we responded quickly, communicating via phone and Face-Time directly to site, making it easy for immediate sharing of information.

Bellevarde were diligent in regularly sharing updates, being able to work remotely with them was like working on a project locally. Their level of understanding details and providing us with possible solutions to issues was very proactive and efficient. Lewis and the Bellevarde team were exemplary at resolving outcomes with previous experience and skills spanning so many projects.

Leesthorpe Mosman has an amazing history, and we wanted our design to continue its legacy and celebrate the new component. Bellevarde understood the complexity behind each part of the project, and they helped tell the future story of the house. From the beginning of this project, all team members were invested in the home’s significance, the design detail, the construction and the final outcome of a beautifully finished family home.

Having looked at a few properties, we found Leesthorpe and decided it would suit our needs as a family with three children, moving back to Sydney from Singapore.

It’s a 1902 Federation home that has a real presence, with a lot of history, and had a previous renovation and extension from 15-20 years before. We lived in the property for about two and a half years before we undertook our own renovation, which meant we had the opportunity to experience it, enjoy it, and identify opportunities for improvement.

We believe it’s important to find architects and designers you will enjoy working with. I think we did that with Bruce Stafford and Miriam Fanning. We started working with Bruce and Mim only 6 months after we moved in, but knew the design and approval process would take a while. We weren’t in a hurry and wanted to experience the house while we worked out what we wanted to do.

We’d been following Mim’s work for some time, and thought she’d be a good option for the interiors, where she would be able to combine the old and new elements really well. We think she was a great choice.

Bruce had been recommended to us. Looking at the broad variety of houses in his portfolio gave us a lot of confidence. We found him to be very pragmatic, gentle and easy to work with. He doesn’t try to force an idea onto you—he listens and tries to work with you. At the same time you also listen to him—he has a lot of experience and can guide you on the journey. An important part of building a home is that partnership, where you can develop a level of trust, and work together. We found that with Bruce and it was a really positive experience.

We explained our vision to Bruce, for a curved white extension complementary to the red bricks of the existing house. He went away and came back with some cool ideas which we worked on together, developing the initial building envelope and location of rooms.

With Mim and her team we further refined that arrangement. Mim’s strong charisma is very effective in achieving a successful design and we enjoyed working with her. I think there was a great deal of respect between all of us in creating the design.

These old houses are historically quite dark. The wraparound verandahs leaving the centre of the house without much light, so one of the clever elements of the design is the glazed connection between the existing house and the new extension, drawing natural light into the house. The skylight over the stair also brings light down to all levels of the house. Bruce’s new extension beyond the stair also opened up the view towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is just spectacular.

Bruce suggested Bellevarde to us and they turned out to be absolutely superb. They just get it. They’re passionate about what they do, and they’re all about getting the right outcome. They look at all the drawings and drill down to the essence of what has been designed and ask if anything can be done in a better way. They also point out that while an item or process might be less expensive now, it will be more expensive in the long run when it needs to be redone.

We feel we were blessed to get Bellevarde as our builder. You spend a lot of time with the architect and designer, but you spend even more time with the builder so it has to be viewed as a partnership. Sometimes there are conversations that aren’t the easiest to be having, so you need to have a serious level of trust between the parties, which we did. You know you’ve had a good relationship when you never need to pick up the contract to resolve an issue.

Our site manager, Lewis Townsend at Bellevarde is a super down-to-earth, highly trustworthy, reliable, easy to deal with person. He never gets flustered, never gets upset, he’s just very steady which is very reassuring when you’re the client with lots of things going on. If we visited the site, it didn’t matter what he was doing, he’d always have time for us. And he was here, virtually all day, every day, from demolition to completion, making sure everything was right. We’ve been living here for 18 months, and he still comes by every couple of months to check that everything’s still OK. We would consider him a friend because we spent so much time together, built up such a strong rapport, and achieved some great things together. It was an absolute pleasure to work with him.

We are extremely happy with the final outcome. The design feels so refined. A lot of people don’t appreciate that you need to give the builder time to execute this kind of highly detailed and special design. Bellevarde’s care and attention to detail are just spectacular.

The completed house is even better than we expected. That’s the result of the high quality build that the Bellevarde team have done, but it’s also the way the architects and designers have completely thought about everything—the flow of the spaces, the size of the rooms, and how all the different elements come together. It’s a great house to have a big party but it’s also a great house for a small intimate dinner. Those things don’t need to be mutually exclusive.

We think Bellevarde excelled in all areas. We also enjoyed the involvement of John Fielding. The passion he still brings to what he does is impressive, and that seems to resonate through the whole company. Bellevarde’s attention to detail, the care they have, and the comfort they give their clients, all add up to a wonderful experience. Whenever we get around to doing this again, there is absolutely no one else we would consider to build our home apart from Bellevarde.