A compact Victorian cottage in St Kilda opens into a home of warm, exacting minimalism, where original stained-glass windows sit alongside crisp new detailing. We have reworked the tight floor plate so once-isolated rooms connect, combining pared-back interventions alongside the existing ornamental details. White walls and a low-line concrete shelf lend the interior the calm of a gallery, while herringbone oak underfoot and finely crafted oak veneer joinery add warmth.

From the entry, formerly separate rooms merge into a single living and dining space, with oak, concrete and white marble running throughout. The decorative bay window remains, a counterpoint to the broad glazed pivot door that draws light in from the rear courtyard.

Every gesture works double-time: an oak-lined stair widens to take in the kitchen service wall; an existing recess becomes a fluted banquette with storage beneath. Upstairs, a rearranged plan allows for an extra bedroom while keeping a generously scaled main suite. Old and new settle into one composed whole, it’s a small house that lives large, quiet in its lines and rich in its craft.