Lees House

Grand architectural gestures may be fascinating for designers to discuss but they're rarely the details clients nominate as highlights of living in a home. For Northcote resident Jonathon, the best things about the recent renovation are the everyday practicalities a visitor could easily miss.

There's a suspended bike rack near the front entrance that he has to walk past to reach his car, which subconsciously encourages him to ride instead of driving. There are also clothes drying racks in the central laundry space adjoining the kitchen that's deliberately more accessible than the dryer, the plywood screen that conceals the TV so successfully that the young family now rarely thinks to watch it, and the calming combination of the home's warm, natural material palette, quiet acoustics, thermal comfort and carefully framed views to a beautiful, subtly asymmetrical garden designed by SJB Landscape.

Words by Kath Dolan, Green Magazine