Our Wooloowin house raise project took this humble character home, and gave it a fresh, modern makeover that still honours its original charm. The brief was to transform a small, outdated house into a spacious family home without losing the unique details that made it special.
At the time, the home had just three bedrooms and a single bathroom, making it far too small for the growing family. Character features such as timber flooring, VJ walls, high ceilings, ornate architraves and casement windows were beautiful, but the layout simply wasn’t functional for modern living.
To create more space, we raised the house and built in underneath, effectively doubling the living area. This allowed us to add generously sized bedrooms, new bathrooms, and more open-plan living zones. Throughout the renovation, we were careful to replicate the home’s character features, continuing the high ceilings and architectural details through both levels to ensure a seamless blend of old and new.
As part of this Wooloowin house raise project, the home’s exterior also got a significant upgrade. We added a new garage, installed an underground water tank for sustainable watering of the gardens, and built a sparkling new pool in the backyard, creating an outdoor oasis where the family can relax and entertain.
This full-scale renovation was completed over nine months, from September 2023 to June 2024, and came in at around $700–800k. It was a complex build with many moving parts, but the end result is a beautiful, functional home that feels both timeless and tailored to the family’s lifestyle.
The transformation not only met the client’s expectations, it exceeded them, turning a once-cramped house into the spacious, character-filled dream home they’d envisioned.
