Balmain House

This was a necessarily low key renovation to a heritage listed house, designed in 1839 by John Bibb. Bibb worked with John Verge, famous for his Elizabeth Bay House. The house has been described as Georgian Regency style with its elegantly curved verandah and fine timber fretwork columns. The large estate originally extended all the way to Darling Street, but over time it was subdivided on all sides resulting in a constrained site at the rear and sides.  

The new work re-furbishes the existing rooms beside and behind the original Georgian plan. A new skillion roof was formed along the length of these Southern rooms and tilted up, so as to enable north light to enter what was a dark and cool southern wing. To the side, a new kitchen dining room was built adjacent to the restored sandstone fireplace. Steel doors and large clerestory windows open up this high and long volume to the large garden on the north. A new exterior terrace sits behind the preserved historic verandah and allows one to enjoy the historic gardens and building fabric.