If you are an architect, it must be terrifically satisfying to come back to the family home you've lived in most of your life and restore it. Architect Simon Stracey, of Enclosure, has had the chance to do this twice for his family's 1905 bay villa.
"The first project 10 years ago was to replace a falling-down old garage on the street, and add a self-contained studio at the back of the house," he says. "It was a big decision ... but gave us the chance to terrace the lawn, create a service deck and an afternoon deck at the back of the house."
The Straceys were just one of a series of owners who had worked on the house. Originally a square-fronted cottage on one of the highest residential streets on the side of Devonport's Mt Victoria, the house had a grand bay windowed wing added in the 1920s. The lean-to utility rooms at the rear became a better kitchen and laundry in the early 1980s. The Straceys bought the house in 1983, when Simon's father, former Royal Navy commander Mick, emigrated to work with the navy here. The rather ramshackle old house was affordable, with potential -- Mick and wife Penny were much taken with the views and there were plenty of other kids in the street for their two sets of twins, Charlotte and Virginia, then 10, and Simon and Henry, 3.
"Devonport was still pretty rough back then, there were still Hells Angels around. These were working men's cottages, and my dad had to find a do up. My parents were always working on the house," says Simon. Mick was the meticulous engineer, repiling and insulating, sorting out electrics, while Penny, who died 11 years ago, had the flair. The other kids have long left home, Simon returned from London last year to help his dad refurbish the house this summer.
