Reimagining a grand Victorian villa with a thoughtful contemporary addition, Mim Design’s Adelaide Villa draws its stunning surrounds in, elevating the experience of home.

Nestled in Melbourne’s bayside suburb of Brighton, Mim Design’s Adelaide Villa transforms a grand Victorian home into a modern family sanctuary, harmoniously blending historical charm with contemporary design. The clients, captivated by the house’s period allure, enlisted Mim Design to expand the residence into a light-filled haven, with the business of family life in mind. Enveloped by lush gardens, the home plays into its incredible surrounds, maximising the outlook at every turn. 

Capturing views across the garden was key, according to Charlotte McGill, Director of Interiors at Mim Design — part of the clever team tasked with the home’s architecture, interior design, furniture, and styling. Mim Design approached the project holistically, opening up and expanding on the back of the home, while ensuring a seamless transition between old and new.

The Victorian villa’s original scale and potential is honoured in the new addition, with lofty ceilings creating a sense of openness and inviting light into the home.

At the street frontage, a simple concrete wall introduces the pared-back and sleek design codes of the property, continued in the extension that, while calling on contemporary materials, mirrors the original home’s grandeur. The Victorian villa’s original scale and potential is honoured in the new addition, with lofty ceilings creating a sense of openness and inviting light into the home. 

At the home’s entrance, an ornate, arched hallway, lined with bedrooms, a bathroom, and a reading room, preserves the home’s traditional elegance, meeting the extension with steel-framed, full height windows. Bridging the gap between old and new, oak hardwood floors and lofty 3.5 metre ceilings seamlessly connect the historic front with the contemporary addition. By creating a material separation between the extension and the existing home, Mim Design was able to maintain the full scope of the heritage home’s integrity. An airy atrium at the intersection between old and new acts as a conduit, borrowing elements from each to create a stunning and seamless separation.

A richly finished study, designed to embrace the view of the lush verdant gardens designed by Kate Patterson Landscapes sits to the east, offering a refined retreat. While the addition’s open kitchen, living, and dining spaces feature a pared-back monochromatic palette, complemented by sculptural furniture, delicate pendant lighting, and contemporary art punctuating the serene ambience and hinting at its inhabitants’ character. In the light-filled kitchen, a monolithic Bianco Lana marble island serves as an anchor point; its design echoing the charred, timber-clad Sugi Ban blades of the home’s rear facade. Expansive glazing connects the interior with the outdoor landscape and pool, while a garage and discrete studio apartment rendered in concrete and timber offers a private retreat for guests at the property’s end.

Throughout, Adelaide Villa’s cohesive and calming palette, softened by considered landscaping, unifies the home’s disparate parts. Mim Design is known for their thoughtfulness and finesse when it comes to giving new life to heritage buildings, and here, in Adelaide Villa, the team has masterfully bound the old and new, judiciously creating and evolving the home’s unique narrative.

Adelaide Villa is built on the traditional lands of the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation.