Architect Scott Weston bought Villa Carmelina, a grand 1889 Victorian Italianate terrace in 2016. The dilapidated state of the house presented Weston with the opportunity to invest his 25 years of architectural practice in his own home.
The main two-storey terrace was restored to its former grandeur, with a few minor adjustments to the interior to accentuate the building’s high ceilings and maximise natural light. The result is a unique fusion of contemporary design and original Victorian architecture.
To the rear is a modernist two-storey addition in glass and steel containing an expansive kitchen and living room in addition to bedrooms and bathing areas.
The architect
Weston is regarded as one of Australia’s most inspiring architects, with a passion for colour, pattern, texture, art, light, functionality and beautifully crafted, artisanal materials and finishes.
In his meticulous reincarnation of Villa Carmelina, Weston has expressed a long-held philosophy of tailoring spaces to embrace and celebrate the interests and passions of the occupants – he has paid homage to the generations who lived in Villa Carmelina before him while creating a unique and deeply personal living space for him and his partner.
The colour palette
The colour palette for Villa Carmelina was inspired by the remnants of its original 1950s colour scheme – rose pink, acanthus green, lemon chiffon, studio mauve and earl grey. These colours appear in various guises throughout the home – some have been custom-matched by Wattyl and others taken directly from the Wattyl fandeck.
Entry hall
Serving as an introduction to the Villa Carmelina colour palette, this is the harmonious meeting point of eight of the project’s custom colours. Lady Gray is seen on the timber dado while the wall above features the velvet grey-lilac of Studio Mauve. The Victorian ceiling is washed in the sorbet lemon hue of Lemon Chiffon, bordered with Ivory Grey piping in order to highlight the decorative cornice and ceiling rose.
Living room
This elegant room, flooded with indirect light from the oversized doors on either side of the fireplace, has as its focus the contemporary glitter artwork by Reuben Paterson.
The walls and decorative plaster moulds above the fireplace are washed in the understated, faded pink of Miss Havisham Rose. Timberwork in the ivory tone of Marcasite highlights the original architectural details, while the lathe and plaster ceiling provides a plane of light grey, using Ivory Grey.
Dining room
Referencing a 1950s Hong Kong tea house, the dining room walls are finished in a soft Matcha Tea shade that was custom-matched to the beautifully textural hemp wallpaper used on the feature doors of the joinery unit.
Having no direct light, the dining room ceiling was highlighted in Modernist, a darker grey, to accentuate the handmade ‘cloud’ chandelier.
The antique Chinese moongate is unquestionably the focal point of this room, framing views and showcasing a collection of beautiful treasures.
Kitchen
The living heart of Villa Carmelina, the kitchen is strategically placed within the expansive living room and features a black and white terrazzo floor and timber hemlock walls.
Two horizontal bands of custom architectural joinery have been hand-rolled in the saturated, deep blue of Curious Planet.
Studio
A grand room that looks out onto the main staircase whose walls are washed in the beautiful grey lilac of Studio Mauve – a hue that magically changes colour throughout the day, thanks to the northern glass roof.
The studio walls are finished in the sophisticated soft grey of Marcasite with a horizontal line of Jazz Age Coral applied to the perimeter above the tall doors, enveloping the cornice and ceiling in one dramatic gesture. The ornate Ivory Grey ceiling rose is crowned by a George Nelson 1950s pendant light.
Guest bedroom
Highlighting a display of rare and beautiful objects, the grey-blue tones of the guest bedroom’s Celadon Blue walls provide a quiet background to the ensuite’s dramatic floral cascade in miniature glass mosaic tiles.
I.D Advanced interior paints
Weston chose Wattyl I.D Advanced Ultra Low VOC interior paint for Villa Carmelina because it not only exceeded green building requirements (with less than 1g of VOCs per litre) but could also be custom-matched to any colour.
View the full video series of the transformation of Villa Carmelina. The Villa Carmelina colour collection is available for viewing at any Wattyl Paint store.
