Renovating a period home without losing its character

Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs are full of period homes that people buy for their character and then struggle to live in: dark rear kitchens, one bathroom, cold rooms and corridors that go nowhere. The good news is that they can almost always be made to work without losing what makes them special. It takes some homework first.

Start by knowing what you have

• Victorian (roughly 1840s–1900). Single and double-fronted terraces and villas with ornate cornices, ceiling roses, marble or slate mantels, timber floorboards, double-hung sash windows and often a tessellated tiled path or hall.
• Edwardian (roughly 1900–1915). Red brick, more decorative timber fretwork, leadlight windows, picture rails and a lighter, more Arts and Crafts feel inside.
• Californian bungalow (roughly 1915–1940). Low-pitched gables, deep verandahs with tapered pillars, built-in joinery, dark-stained timber and leadlights.

Walk the house with a notebook and list every original feature, even damaged ones: cornices, roses, architraves, skirtings, doors and hardware, fireplaces, floors, windows and leadlight. That list becomes your keep list, and it’s the first thing a good designer or architect will ask for.

Check the overlay before you open a sketchbook

Many period homes in Melbourne sit within a Heritage Overlay (Clause 43.01 of the Victoria Planning Provisions). Councils' guidance is consistent on the basics:

• A planning permit is usually needed for demolition (including part of a building or fence), external alterations, new buildings, and painting a previously unpainted external surface.
• Internal alterations need a permit only if the overlay’s schedule says internal alteration controls apply to your property. Most properties don’t have them.
• Some schedules also turn on external paint controls or tree controls for particular places.
• Places on the Victorian Heritage Register are under a separate regime run by Heritage Victoria, which can cover interiors.

Keep, repair, then change

A useful order of priorities is to keep what’s original and sound, repair what’s original and damaged, and only then change or add. Plaster cornices can be patched and re-run in place. Sash windows can be re-corded, draught-sealed and have their glazing improved. Floorboards can be lifted, repaired and relaid. All of these usually cost less than people expect and look better than a new copy.

Where something has to go, record it first: photograph it, measure it and keep a sample if you can. It may be useful elsewhere in the house, and future owners will thank you.

Let the new work be quietly new

Australia’s heritage practice guide, the Burra Charter, says new work should be readily identifiable as new while respecting the significance of the place. In practice that means a rear extension or new kitchen doesn’t need to imitate Victorian detailing. Simpler forms, honest materials and a calm palette sit far better beside an ornate front room than a reproduction ever does.

• Use a clear junction between old and new, such as a step in the ceiling, a change in floor or a slot of glazing.
• Repeat proportions rather than ornament: ceiling heights, window rhythms and the width of a hallway.
• Pick a few materials and use them generously: timber, stone, lime plaster and linen are hard to go wrong with in an old house.

Services without scars

Most of the work in a period renovation is invisible: rewiring, re-plumbing, heating, insulation and draught-proofing. Plan it with the interiors, not after them, so new cables don’t get chased through original plaster and new vents don’t punch through a ceiling rose.

• Run new services under floors and through roof spaces wherever you can.
• Insulate ceilings and, where accessible, under floors. Draught-seal doors and sashes. Old houses lose much of their heat through gaps.
• Choose heating that suits the rooms: hydronic panels or slim heat pumps can sit discreetly. Plan positions on the drawings so they don’t land on a picture wall.

Bring in light, but keep some shadow

Period homes tend to be dark through the middle. Skylights over stairs and corridors, glazed doors to new rear rooms, and pale floors in the extension all help. It’s also worth accepting that the front rooms will never be bright, and making them the cosy rooms: libraries, studies and sitting rooms with lamps, deep colour and soft textiles.

A short checklist before you start

1. Write your keep list of original features.
2. Check VicPlan and the overlay schedule for your property.
3. Brief your architect and designer together, so interiors and building work are planned as one.
4. Budget for repair work separately from new work, because it’s easy to underestimate.
5. Plan services and heating on the drawings before demolition starts.