Courage Homes - The Beauty Within

Like many families today, the owners of this home chose to renovate rather than move. New to the area, they were attracted to the property because of its ocean views of Stradbroke Island, but the Tudor-style home, with its wrought-iron lacework and Corinthian columns, didn't suit their taste. It was dark and gloomy, with pokey little spaces. "We wanted a sleeker, more contemporary look and feel to the home. We wanted to really open everything up and modernise the house," they said.

The owners met with the Courage Homes team to discuss the renovations and were immediately impressed with their up-front approach to the process. The team discussed the home owners' desires and budget, then set about creating and executing an innovative, contemporary design. "We offer a full design service," Courage Homes' Vicki Gowland says.

"Our design and construction team meets with our clients to discuss ideas and talk about budget. We then work on creating a design to suit, paying the same attention to cost as we do to design — when our clients give us a budget, we stick to it. The whole process is a continuing course of designing and pricing. We don't want our clients getting a nasty surprise halfway through the project."

The owners are thrilled with the results. The home has been transformed into a large contemporary space with a clean, minimalist philosophy at its foundation. The entire downstairs area has been altered dramatically and the results are spectacular. The external wall to the kitchen, previously closed in totally bar a small window, has been completely opened up with bi-fold doors, which allow the outdoors in.

The vivid new kitchen, finished in stunning stark white, flows smoothly into the adjoining interior spaces as well as the outdoor area, creating one huge, seamless entertaining section. The dining room is large and luxurious, with the entire front wall finished in spectacular cedar-framed glazing and continuing the flow between indoors and out.

Upstairs, the transformation continues in the bedrooms. Two of the four upstairs rooms were combined to create the exquisite master bedroom complete with a spacious modern ensuite. As with the treatment downstairs, upstairs has been designed with a skilled hand. The rooms are striking yet subtle, contemporary yet warm. The minimalist look and feel of the space is humanised by the owners' collection of art and artefacts, gathered from a lifetime of travelling.

During the renovation, the staircase, which was to be completely replaced, was being stripped for removal when the Courage team began to see its inner beauty and discussed with the owners about keeping it in place. "Once we stripped off the balustrade with ornate gilding, and stripped the stairs back, we realised there was a beautiful staircase underneath," says Vicki Gowland. "We consulted the owners and decided to keep it — with a few cosmetic touches. It looks fantastic and it was a huge saving as well."

It's this type of practice that is so impressive about Courage Homes. Not only did the company create a dream home for the owners, staff also managed to alleviate all the usual stresses and strains associated with the process. "Whether we are building a new home or renovating an existing one, we ensure our clients are kept completely up to date, every step of the way," adds Gowland. "We focus on creating innovative designs tailored to our clients' needs, tastes and budgets."

Courage Homes

According to Vicki Gowland from Courage Homes, this spectacular new house was designed "in response to the clients’ brief to capitalise on the setting and to create as much outdoor living space as possible. The clients also specified that they wanted a country feel to their home."

Courage Homes designed a house that was split-level. Vicki describes this as an attempt "to step down the site, as it was a particularly steep gradient of almost 45 degrees!

The clients also wanted the home set high up on the site to take in the view. Another design specification was for the garage not to be at the front of the house.

"The design consideration paramount to the project was that it needed to blend in with the surrounding bush and, where possible, recycled timber posts were to be used. The view and the lovely bush were always the inspiration for this house — and taking advantage of the huge sloping site."

According to Vicki, "The use of the timber work and recycled timber posts, especially the timber stairwell, were some of the more special design elements of the house, as is a feature wall made of stone tile alongside the staircase. It works well with the home because it backs into the hill.

To juxtapose the stone tiles, at the front of the staircase, it’s all glass. The huge slope of the site and the south-west orientation of the home were both challenges, however once those challenges were met, the slope of the site and the position became great advantages, adding to the dramatic views.

"What makes this home so special is the way it sits quietly on the hill. It has a lovely ambience about it, being up so high. It feels great. It has a wonderful country ranch feel to it.

It was important that the house blend in with the surrounds and one of the design elements that worked with that objective is the low-pitch roof. It is approximately an 18-degree roof pitch with a very large overhang."

Vicki described how overhangs give a classic country design element to a home. "There is also the practicality that comes with being able to open windows with the protection a large overhang allows; it protects from all sorts of weather, such as the intense sun and heavy rain. With the extensive use of timber for this house, it adds to the unobtrusiveness of the design, but it also has a big, open, modern feel.

"Big windows — and lots of them — help to create open spaces inside the house. There’s also a full wood-burning fireplace, again adding to the country charm of the home. The living area is almost in the trees it’s so high. The house is deceiving from the front; you don’t realise how high it is but you are almost in the trees! You see so many beautiful birds, plus you get the breezes as well."

The design process took about 18 months, during which time the clients discussed many different processes. Because of the block of land, the clients had to come to terms with designs that would work on it and now they love the house. "It’s very liveable, they love being up high with the birds and the breezes," said Vicki.