This Brunswick Family Home For Sale Ticks All The Boxes
On The Market
UK-born couple Katy Southall and Alex Mathieson lived all over the world until falling in love with Melbourne, and this house, over 20 years ago.
Polly Bastow and Tony Stuart of Form Architecture Furniture (since retired) were engaged strip the old house to its bones, while preserving original features including sash windows, timber ceilings, and doors.
The garden has matured and evolved over time with the help of Patrick Hennessy Landscaping.
The floor plan was reconfigured and expanded in the renovation to create two distinct zones: one north-facing ‘active’ area, and a south-saving passive wing containing the bedrooms and bathrooms.
It’s hard for Katy and Alex to pinpoint a favourite feature of this home, but the joinery and practical kitchen are standouts.
A desk nook in the kitchen area provides a place to study or work with a garden view.
Numerous ceramics throughout home are by Sophie Moran.
The kitchen was designed to be generous, practical, easy to cook in with a crowd, and easy to clean up afterwards.
‘It’s also just a beautiful place to be,’ says Katy of the kitchen.
The bespoke storage has never been fully filled.
Original features include sash windows, timber ceilings, and doors.
The front bedroom.
The two bathrooms are both in the ‘passive’ area of the home.
The home’s Edwardian facade.
The home has been especially ideal for parents of two sport-loving sons with its parkside location.
The property heads to auction March 19.
UK-born couple Katy Southall and Alex Mathieson lived all over the world until falling in love with Melbourne over 20 years ago.
They say this Brunswick house ‘found them’. While enquiring about another house for sale, they were mistakenly sent the details for 25 Holloway, and the rest is history. ‘We saw it that afternoon, fell in love, and put an offer in there and then,’ says Katy.
‘We also loved the position: at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac embedded in a park, bookended by two bus routes, two nearby trams and Brunswick station, and yet from almost every window, trees and big skies. It feels like living in the country while being a short hop from the CBD.’
Katy adds, ‘We decided early on that this was the home we wanted to shape, raise our children in, and host our friends and family in.’
For the eventual renovation, Katy and Alex engaged Polly Bastow and Tony Stuart of Form Architecture Furniture (since retired) to strip the old house to its bones, while preserving original features including sash windows, timber ceilings, and doors.
‘They were something of an inner north best-kept secret — a small, deeply considered practice doing bespoke, unhurried work. Careful, enduring, custom in the truest sense, which was exactly what we were looking for,’ says Katy.
The floor plan was reconfigured and expanded in the renovation to create two distinct zones: one north-facing ‘active’ area, and a south-saving passive wing containing the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Sustainability was central to the brief from day one, ensuring a six-star energy rating (high for a house of this era, and the time of the renovation), double-glazed windows, solar hot water, water tanks for toilets and gardens, and a solar drying shed designed by Polly and Tony.
The house has grown with the couple’s now adult sons, who have since fled the nest. Alex explains, ‘When the boys were young, the glass shelving kept us connected: you could be in the kitchen and still have a line of sight to the bedrooms. As they grew into teenagers, the separation of the passive wing gave everyone the independence they needed. It also easily accommodated Katy’s mother’s three-month stays every year.’
The garden has also matured and evolved with the help of Patrick Hennessy Landscaping. There are now places to entertain and gather around the firepit, and quiet spots to curl up with a book.
‘The garden is a year-round pleasure: blues, purples and whites in spring; reds and hot pinks through summer; russets and warm oranges by autumn,’ says Alex. ‘We’ve never used pesticides and it’s full of life. A tawny frogmouth family have been regular visitors for years, along with many other birds.
It’s hard for Katy and Alex to pinpoint a favourite feature of this home, but the joinery is a standout (‘there is so much storage, we’ve never got close to filling it all’) and the practical kitchen.
‘The location companies who’ve used the house for photoshoots over the years also love the all-day light and scale, as well as good [street] parking. We’ve been able to earn additional income from the house, too,’ says Alex.
The home’s location has been especially ideal for parents of two sport-loving sons. ‘The street becomes an extension of the garden. Our boys grew up with the park, playground, and street as their world, says Alex. ‘Just about every sport you can think of is metres away, which has meant the kids have always been able to make their own way there.’
Alex and Katy are active members of the community, frequently engaging in the neighbours’ WhatsApp chat, sharing produce, and playing at the tennis club virtually next door. ‘It’s one of those inner-city locations that works for every stage of life.’
The decision to sell has been ‘agonising,’ but with the couple’s sons moving on, Katy and Alex are ready for their next chapter.
Alex says, ‘We’ve had twenty extraordinary years here. Polly and Tony designed this house to be enduring and to be lived in fully, and we have. This feels like the right time to hand it on to others to enjoy.’
Katy adds, ‘It has been a home of happiness and good times. We’ve been very lucky to have lived here.’
25 Holloway Road, Brunswick VIC 3056 is listed for sale with Jonathan West from Nelson Alexander and will go to auction on Thursday March 19 at 7pm.