Unwind In This Artful Sydney Residence With Soul

“The clients wanted a home with soul—something layered, tactile, and effortlessly lived-in, nothing that felt too pristine,” explains Alexandra Donohoe Church, Decus founder and managing director. “It had to be as functional as it was beautiful, a place where their extended family could gather over long lunches but also a sanctuary for quiet moments.”

Inheriting a home that had been artfully renovated by KA Design Studio, Decus was charged with adding warmth and personality to the grand, multilevel (and multigenerational) home, blessed with sweeping views across Sydney’s premier beach suburbs of Vaucluse and Watson’s Bay. Buoyed by their mission to “rage against its simplicity”, the studio has woven together diverse design influences, grounding textures, materials and hues to create a captivating journey—a ‘patchwork’ of experiences—across the home.

Inside A Patchwork Sydney Home

The striking entryway cupola—a naturally illuminated double-height volume with a James Turrell like ocular opening at its centre—subtly sets the tone for the visual journey about to unfold, with a striking Viabizzuno chandelier, Marmorino-rendered walls and beautiful object de art forming a highly considered, yet welcoming entry experience. The space then effortlessly flows into the adjacent library and living spaces (past the sweeping staircase), leading to a sculpted, 20-seat dining table and to a kitchen that is as visually intoxicating as it is refined and sophisticated. A Decus custom-designed aged brass hood is contrasted against the granite kitchen island where the stone veining is so dynamic, it threatens to overwhelm the space, but is yet so perfectly in rhythm with every other element. Such is the skill of the curatorial skill of the studio.

The elegant lounge area, with a sinuous custom banquette seating taking centre stage, brings additional dynamism to the space. An arched, Flemish glass-lined double door opening connects to an intimate library, color washed in an appropriately named “cab sav” paint finish, harmoniously pared with other bespoke pieces in in bursts of burgundy, ink, terracotta, and mauve to exhilarating effect. The oak-lined study and master bedroom and master robe master bathroom, have the same moody impact, with the sumptuous oak joinery and extraordinary selection of veined stone granite echoing the other key areas of the home. A hidden stairwell leads to the home’s private lower level: a self-contained ‘apartment’ for recreation and visiting guests.

Bespoke Furnishings Enliven The Home

At the centre of the lower level, a horse-shoe shaped wine cellar is complemented by a pool table and ping-pong table, leading through to a kitchen and expansive outdoor terrace. This generous rumpus space is complemented by guest quarters, a gym, sauna and cinema room—“a place to party, party, party, while accommodating three generations of this incredibly close-knit, extended family under one roof,” says Alexandra.

Duet Gives an Old-School Sydney Residence a Youthful Update

As far as first projects go, this five-bedroom house set on a half-acre plot complete with pool and tennis court is an undoubtedly impressive one, both for its scale and for the design freedom extended to interior designers Shannon Shlom and Dominique Brammah. Collaborating for the first time as co-founders of the Sydney studio Duet, the pair worked symbiotically to transform the jaded Tudor-style dwelling in suburban Strathfield, Australia, into a fresh-faced home suited to modern living. The clients, George and Michleen, had purchased the sizeable two-story residence with the desire to create a family-friendly environment for their growing brood. George, a property developer and frequent traveler, also wanted the interior to reflect the luxury hotel aesthetic he appreciated on the road, and to leverage his company’s team of contractors and consultants. Other than that, he gave Duet carte blanche. “This was a true trust exercise where we had complete autonomy to run with our ideas based on the initial brief,” Shlom recalls.

Although the house, built in 1916, had been through a previous renovation and addition, “it was formulaic and lacked heart and soul,” Shlom explains. “The original spaces were bland while the more recently added contemporary spaces were a pastiche of confused styles.” The duo’s initial site visit and floor plan review sparked an idea they realized would improve the flow of foot traffic while also instating spatial logic: relocating the staircase from the entry hall to a more central spot closer to the layout’s actual midpoint. The new stair, a twisty spiral with Carrara marble treads, neatly divides the plan into two zones: a formal one comprising the living room, the guest powder room, and the study, and a more casual, free-flowing wing housing the family room, kitchen/dining area, butler’s pantry, and an additional half-bath. “Those adjustments honored the proportions of the original rooms while allowing for the creation of a generous, open, contemporary space,” Brammah notes. Further bridging old and new are architectural details including custom wall paneling, large-scale dentil molding, parquet de Versailles oak flooring, and vintage lighting—“elements that acknowledge the history of the house yet allowed for a new language that didn’t feel like a replication,” she continues. “It’s an approach that encapsulates the essence of the project: a deeply layered scheme that can continue to evolve with the family over its lifetime.”

Other major interventions to the property include a pergola with an outdoor kitchen and bath, a freestanding tennis/guest house courtside, a rear extension encompassing an enlarged showcase garage (home to George’s vintage car collection) and a game room in which the couple can host late-night card games without disrupting family life in the main house. Indeed, the entire property is both party minded yet practical, down to the kitchen.

“The family loves entertaining—but not the idea of guests getting elbow-deep in grease during cleanup after a long Sunday lunch,” Shlom says. So, Duet conceived a double kitchen: a showpiece cookery paired with a hardworking tucked-away butler’s pantry that houses a second set of appliances. The latter functions as the day-to-day meal-prep area, which freed Duet to push the design parameters of the public-facing side, oriented around a commandingly contemporary two-tone stone island that stands sculpture-like.

For furnishings, Shlom and Brammah sourced far and wide. “Lighting was an important part of bringing a worldly, well-traveled feel to the design, with many eras represented so as not to create a prescriptive style,” Shlom says. The showstopper Lindsey Adelman Drop pendant above the dining room table, in a patinated copper finish, “made our hearts sing,” Brammah says, pointing out how it elegantly twists and turns in the breeze when sliders to the adjacent outdoor living spaces are open. Duet also commissioned myriad custom pieces. In the primary bedroom, for instance, the headboard, bedside tables, pendants, checkerboard broadloom carpet, bed linens, and silk window treatments are all bespoke.

As for the young members of the household, who range from six months to 11 years old, their sanctums are at once age-appropriate yet designed with longevity in mind, featuring colors and finishes sure to stand the test of time. Take the playroom: The ground-floor space, formerly an uptight formal room, is now an ode to a big-top tent, treated to a vibrant mix of terracotta ceiling stripes and circular elements ranging from the sofa cushions to the area rug.

Equally playful, albeit in another vein entirely, is George’s study. Mirror-backed built-in shelving showcases his prized whiskey collection alongside vintage treasures. An added grace note, the designers specified Piero Fornasetti’s classic Teatro wallpaper, featuring an audience of theater-goers, “so George would always be in good company working late into the night,” Brammah says with a laugh. Who needs alone time?

Duet: Lead Consultants

AJH+: architecture

Studio Rewild: landscape consultant

Megan Morton: editorial styling

Sophia Kaplan: editorial florals

Globewest: coffee tables (family room, living room), table, chairs (kitchen), sofa, side table (cubby), bedside tables (guest bedroom, daughter’s bedroom)

Poltrona Frau through Cult Design: pouf (family room)

Pulpo through Domo: floor lamp

Cole & Sons through Iconradford Wallpaper: wallpaper (study)

Cassina through Cult Design: desk

Fourth Street Home: egg sculpture

Through Mercer & Lewis: amphora pots

joel escalona through adorno design: ceramic vase

through james said: vintage wall light (study), vintage chandelier (living room)

gubi through cult design: chair (study), lamp (playroom)

the visuals: plinth (stair), sculptures (stair, living room)

deemah stone: stone flooring (stair, foyer)

lighting collective: pendant light (playroom)

simple studio: window treatments

murobond: accent paint (playroom, guest bedroom)

house of orange: bench (playroom), console (living room), lamps (guest bedroom)

through smith street bazaar: vintage pendant light (living room)

through tigmi trading: lounge chair, footstool

jetmaster: fireplace

Lindsey adelman studio: pendant light (kitchen)

grazia & co.: stools

mcmullen & co.: vase

porter’s: cabinetry paint (kitchen, butler’s pantry)

granite & marble works: countertop marble (kitchen, daughter’s bathroom), backsplash (tennis house)

through 1st dibs: pendant (foyer)

liwans through nicholas & alistair: vintage console

zip water: specialty tap (butler’s pantry)

onsite supply & design: backsplash

WK: countertop stone

tim roodenrys: rug

&tradition through cult design: lamp (cubby)

the society inc.: wallpaper

ascraft: wallpaper (primary bedroom)

fibonacci stone through onsite supply and design: stone tile (tennis house)

honoré through tigmi trading: pendant light

thonet: stools

julie neill through montauk lighting co.: pendant light (guest bedroom)

s a s veer: artwork

the stitching project: bedcover

dulux: paint

we love parquet: flooring

perrin & rowe through english tapware company: sink fittings

Tappeti: custom rugs

heritage tile co.: terrazzo (kids’ baths)

surface gallery: wall tiles (kids’ baths)

snelling: wall lights (kids’ baths)