Beach Hill House

A hand-built home, a kitchen made for serious cooking, and a renovation guided by the belief that the best way forward is sometimes to look very carefully at what is already there.

Built by hand over six years, this Somers home is unlike most. Twenty years ago, its original owner spent his weekends at Dromana Quarry, hand-selecting stone piece by piece for the house. Reclaimed railway sleepers and timber from old piers became structural and decorative elements. Terracotta floors, rendered brick and handmade leadlight doors give the home a warmth and character that simply can't be manufactured.

It feels like a house that has always belonged in the landscape - earthy, tactile and deeply connected to its surroundings.

The brief for the renovation was therefore not to reinvent the home, but to make it work better for the people living in it now.

A kitchen for living, and cooking.

The existing kitchen was beautiful in its materiality, with timber cabinetry and timber benchtops, but its layout wasn't serving the clients particularly well. Storage was predominantly cupboards, circulation was awkward and the overall workflow needed reconsidering.

This was particularly important for a couple who are serious home cooks - think milling flour for bread and making many things from scratch, so the kitchen needed to support real preparation, not simply look good.

There was also a longer-term consideration: as the clients age, accessibility, ease of use and thoughtful ergonomics will become increasingly important.

Our solution was to create two distinct kitchen spaces - each with a very different role.

The central kitchen became the social heart of the home: lighter, calmer and designed for everyday use and connection.

The second space, created from an oversized laundry and storage area near the home's main entry, became a true working kitchen. More than a traditional butler's pantry, it houses the ovens, dishwashers, bins, integrated refrigeration, pantry storage and much of the less glamorous (but essential) business of running a kitchen.

Together, the two spaces create a kitchen that is both beautiful and genuinely hardworking.

Natural materials, thoughtfully used

Materiality was central to every decision.

The clients were committed to maintaining the integrity of the original home and wanted to avoid materials that would feel foreign to its existing palette. No laminate. No melamine. No unnecessary plasterboard. And, importantly, no VOC-emitting paints.

The new cabinetry was constructed with plywood carcasses, while the door fronts were made from reclaimed timber salvaged from the original kitchen. Our cabinet maker dressed and profiled the timber to create a series of beautiful, tactile doors, which were then hand-painted using no-VOC paint.

The result feels entirely at home within the existing architecture.

For the benchtops, we selected a beautiful natural marble with warm mocha, brown, gold and creamy tones. Subtle fossil-like markings give the stone a sense of age and geological depth, while its lighter palette helps lift the darker central kitchen.

Nothing was selected simply because it was new or fashionable. Every material needed to earn its place.

Working with the house

One of the challenges was working within the existing structure and service locations. Rather than imposing a completely new arrangement on the house, the design worked carefully around what was already there.

Lighting was one area where a small intervention made a significant difference.

An existing timber beam runs the length of the main kitchen bench, so we integrated soft LED lighting beneath it. The result is a gentle wash of light across the work surface that improves visibility and functionality without introducing a visually competing element.

In the working kitchen, existing timber from the previous kitchen was repurposed into shelving, giving the new space an immediate sense of history and continuity.

The cabinetry continues the warm ivory palette of the main kitchen, with a vibrant green introduced to the tall cabinetry. The colour brings depth and personality to the room while drawing a subtle connection to the garden and surrounding landscape.

A renovation with respect

Beach Hill House is a reminder that renovation doesn't always mean starting again.

Sometimes the most considered approach is to understand what makes a home special, identify what isn't working, and intervene carefully.

Here, the original craftsmanship, materials and spirit of the house remain firmly intact. The kitchen simply works harder, stores more intelligently, supports serious cooking and is easier to use every day.

A house built over six years by hand deserved a renovation that was equally considered.

Design - Assembly Interiors

Cabinetry - Foxa Co

Photography - Lisa Atkinson