Once dilapidated 1900s Perth cottage transformed with recycled bricks, plywood and concrete

• Owners: Tanya McKenna, her partner Pete Chadwick and their boxer Henri
• Type of property: A restored weatherboard cottage with a contemporary extension
• Address: 24 Arundel Street, Bayswater, Western Australia

With its corrugated iron roof and wraparound verandah, the white weatherboard cottage at 24 Arundel Street in Bayswater is typical of the houses that dotted Perth’s suburbs a century ago.

But tucked behind it, in the shadow of the original home, is a modern extension that’s anything but ordinary. 

Aptly named Shadow House, the charred jarrah-clad addition is the handiwork of sustainability consultant Tanya McKenna and her electrician partner, Pete Chadwick.

Having already completed four renovations around Perth, the couple were “itching” for their next project when they came across the c1900 property in “up-and-coming” Bayswater in early 2019.

“It was quite dilapidated, it was on a bit of a lean, all the inside was like a creamy yellow with maroon, and it was all dark,” says McKenna. “When we drove past the house to check on it, we just really liked it and you could see it just had so much potential.”

They bought the property and dove right in, enlisting the help of local architect Craig Nener of Grotto Studio to reimagine the cottage and design the addition with sustainability in mind.

“I wanted to try the black shou sugi ban – the charred jarrah – and I really wanted to incorporate certain elements like plywood, like a bay window, and I wanted a separate self-contained studio,” says McKenna, adding that the design also had to “incorporate and celebrate” two mature jacaranda trees. 

“We basically left it to Craig to work his magic and tell us what he saw, as a visionary and as a designer, would work well for the space, incorporating some of our ideas” she says.

Once the design was locked in, it was over to McKenna and Chadwick to bring it to life, with the two chipping away at the project around their full time jobs.

“We had different contractors come in and do bits, but a majority of it was done by me and Pete,” says McKenna.

Living in the home from day one, they started with the cottage, keeping one bedroom intact, reworking a kitchen into another bedroom, connecting two rooms to create a main bedroom with an en suite, and demolishing a rear sleep-out.

Next, steel was craned over the house to create the structure for the addition, with timber beams added to create a raked roofline and a concrete slab laid for the floor.

“It all just started to come together, but quite slowly,” says McKenna.

The couple made use of salvaged materials where they could, opting for jarrah cladding – sourced from a local timber salesman and hand-burnt by McKenna “piece by piece” – on the exterior. Plywood was chosen for the interior walls, cabinets and ceiling to bring “a warmth and textural element” to the space.

The studio floor was crafted from jarrah from the original house, recycled bricks were used for paving, and a second-hand solar hot water system was installed.

High windows capture the sun and views of the jacaranda trees, while a square window in the kitchen provides a sightline to the front street and a cushioned nook with a built-in shelf looks out to the backyard.

“You get this beautiful sun coming through and you see the different shadows of the trees and plants kind of casting over that space,” says McKenna. “It’s got this amazing feel to it.”

True to the original brief, a studio with a dark timber interior and a private courtyard is separated from the open-plan living, dining and kitchen space by an open-air atrium with vines that cascade up the surrounding raw jarrah walls.

Alongside the home renovation, McKenna and Chadwick worked with local designer mkticks to create a garden that suited the site’s climate.

“The garden at the front was just like a sandpit, it was terrible,” McKenna recalls. “These awful weeds would just pop up all the time, but I would just keep planting natives and flowers and pigface and trees like silver princess.

“I could start to see more things surviving, more things kind of thriving in the space … now I barely get a weed, it’s the most amazing thing.”

With the project finally completed earlier this year, the couple are planning a move back to their former home in Highgate, closer to Perth’s inner city, and have placed the Bayswater property on the market.

“It’s a beautiful home and we’ve really enjoyed it, we just hope that the next person enjoys it as much as we have,” says McKenna. 

“We’ve been able to learn a lot through the process too and we leave behind a legacy of this beautiful place that hopefully has another hundred years added to its life.”

SOLD - $1,350,000

24 Arundel Street, Bayswater WA 6053

4

3

2

View property