‘Family’ and ‘home’ are almost synchronous with one another; they make up a place where some of our earliest memories are made. Our family homes play a hefty role in shaping who we are – just as we do them. But there’s a lot to say about the flexibility of a family home that evolves with its growing inhabitants and adapts to changing demands of the day-to-day. Finding a perfect fit for the modern family requires some tailoring indeed, so we’ve handpicked five family havens speaking to all aspects of their clan’s criteria, from toddlers to teens.
In partnership with our friends at King Living, we pull apart what makes a family home both functional and a fun place for growing up.
Our favourite family home in recent memory is the Melbourne Home by Cassie-James Herrick of CJH Studio. We can’t look past Cassie’s deft hand for accomodating busy little people in all elegant and unpretentious dimensions. CJH Studio certainly has a knack for seamlessly hiding storage, innovating to little hands with large pull-out toy boxes and a TV enclosed in custom-made joinery. Durable stone surfaces and the warm timber table such as the Keel Dining Table (available in a Console) are for family-friendly functionality in a home expertly designed for “inevitable kid’s accidents”.
Photography by Ben Hosking
Green space abounds in The Courtyard House by Figr Architecture & Design, offering room to embrace the outdoors without the prying eyes of a neighbour. Inspired by the traditional Italian Palazzo, the expertly integrated home is an exact match to the toddler, for the fluidity of indoor-outdoor play that can’t escape the watchful eye of mum or dad. That’s without mentioning the sophisticated materiality for the design-minded parents who can rest their legs on a Bongo Storage Ottoman and their heads on the Encore Bed. Everyone’s a winner!
Photography by Tom Blachford
It’s fair to say Madeleine Blanchfield Architects have thought long and hard about what a family needs in their Coogee Home. Taking a traditional family home into a new era, the sprawling backyard and pool area will delight any school-aged family in need of a little extra room to grow and play. It’s a flexible set up of generous proportions: the sizeable outdoor is matched with an equally open and spacious interior. Thanks to glass sliding doors, parents can be entertained by their young ones from the comfort of their Delta Sofa and move with ease from one light-filled space to the next.
Photography by Prue Ruscoe
The Rose House oozes with cosiness and convenience. We definitely put that down to Watts Studio sympathising with the project’s parents by creating private spaces for quiet time. The custom-built window seat is ready to host an afternoon read or for soaking up the winter sun with the Venus Coffee Table nesting just in reach for a cup of tea. Everything about the Rose House speaks day-to-day use with a firm grasp on family living that will last for many years to come.
Photography by Brooke Holm
It’s time we talk teenagers. The Hawthorn Home by Steve Domoney is for the growing, the grown-ups and those that are a bit in between the two. The gallery-like interior aesthetic unfolds from one large private space to the next, optimal for the adolescent to retreat to their dedicated ‘teen zone’. Yet the home is also about bringing the family together with the expansive dining areas; the perfect place for taking time out of a hectic schedule and encouraging conversation – inside or out.
