Half House is a 2024 collaboration between MMTH and Bradey Architects that does exactly what good residential design should — it earns its place.

The project begins with respect. The existing 100sqm inter-war home was carefully preserved, its exterior envelope left almost entirely untouched while thoughtful interior reconfiguration unlocked a grander, more flowing layout. The ornate Art Deco detailing of the front rooms remains intact — ceilings, cornices, character and all — now complemented by a new entrance that announces itself with height and generosity.

To the south, a new 100sqm extension arrives with quiet confidence. Connected to the original home via a light-filled hallway, the addition is architecturally distinct without ever feeling out of place. What was once a modest 2 bed, 1 bath cottage is now a full 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2 living room home — with large, well-proportioned rooms, both front and rear gardens retained, and a layout that makes the most of a narrow block without feeling like it.

The key architectural move is the vaulted ceiling that sweeps through the rear bedroom and on through the kitchen and dining — a continuous, luxurious gesture that lifts the spirit of the whole extension. It connects seamlessly to a striking timber batten eave at the rear, where two large stacker doors dissolve the boundary between inside and out, opening the kitchen, dining, and living spaces directly to the garden.

That garden is worth opening up to. A colourful modern native planting at the front gives way to a coastal native delight at the rear — and the extension's generous windows throughout the kitchen, living, dining, and hallway draw it all inward, making greenery and light as much a part of the interior palette as any material choice.

Speaking of palette — it's bold, considered, and distinctly Australian. Coastal and contemporary in feel, with Art Deco echoes carried through in brass fittings and softly curved details that bridge old and new without forcing the conversation.

Half House isn't about adding more. It's about getting the existing DNA right, then pushing it somewhere worth going.