The compact 1964 Modernist home Samone shares with her family is brimming with color, books, and art—and, above all else—an overarching sense of fun. This stylish three-bedroom Australian home is modest in size by current standards, but truly punches above its weight with plentiful windows that allow light and vistas of green to pour inside. 

Architecturally, the structure of the 1964 home is entirely original, with the fittings and fixtures preserved. Keen to not live in time capsule though, Samone has remained sympathetic to Modernism, while “amping it up,” as she says, with furniture, paint, and decorative features to reflect the personalities and interests of her modern family in 2019. It is clear that this jubilant, light-filled home belongs to someone who loves color and kids’ books! 

It’s not really surprising that Samone’s home is full of color and quirkiness; she’s a former commissioning editor of kids’ books, who now freelance edits and writes, while working in her local library service delivering children’s programs. Luckily for those who live in Melbourne (or wish to move), this remarkable and lovingly put together home is now on the market and ready to be sold to anyone wishing for their own a ’60s slice of the rainbow close to the beach.  

My Style: “Crayola Modern.” I love all things mid-century and modernist… by way of 1982. I’m totally down with the ’60s, but, as a late Gen X, I want my MTV! When I was a teenager, my first visit to pop culture collectables haven the Chapel Street Bazaar left a very big impression.

Inspiration: Children’s books (I would like to live in the classic Little Golden Book “The Color Kittens” and anything by Dick Bruna), Demi Moore’s apartment in “St. Elmo’s Fire” with all the pink and the Billy Idol mural… oh, and the Lundby Stockholm dollhouse! 

Favorite Element: The disco ball salvaged from Melbourne’s now defunct Metro nightclub, the custom pink laminated glass in the entry, the original cabinets from 1964 updated by masterful furniture maker Lee Gratton in the kitchen… and the wall of green that peeks through the plentiful windows. 

Biggest Challenge: Fitting in modern conveniences while retaining the original 1964 features. I had blinds installed and the installer ripped and tossed all the pristine timber pelmets in the driveway. [INSERTS WAIL!] I stuck them all back up. Thankfully, only a few were completely snapped in two.   

What Friends Say: It’s a cheerful, happy family home. 

Biggest Embarrassment: My house is kept super neat… until you open the cupboards… it’s like snakes in a can in there. 

Proudest DIY: Polishing the concrete floors (previously covered in three layers of linoleum) and painting the mission brown eaves to match the Beci Orpin-designed kangaroo sculpture in my garden. Also, converting the galley laundry into a study space and reading nook was inspired, if I say so myself. 

Biggest Indulgence:  Paint. 

Best Advice: Surround yourself with the things you truly love. 

Dream Sources: I would like to buy all my furniture from Melbourne’s Jardan Furniture and Angelucci 20^th Century. I would also like to collect an Amanda Dziedzic glass yumemiru bonsai tree in every shade of the rainbow! More recently, I’m loving IKEA catalogues from the late 1980s and early ’90s.

Thanks, Samone!

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