Entertainer’s dream in prized Prospect
Taking inspiration from their favourite hotel in Hong Kong, the owners of this 1920s Prospect villa have created a luxury home, with a spacious master suite and a kitchen worthy of a chef.
When Andrew and Bronwyn Taylor moved to 30 Daphne Street, Prospect in 2016, they had been living in apartments in Macau, where they worked in the casino industry.
The couple were looking to move back home to Adelaide and were attracted to the great location, with its cosmopolitan feel, being close to cafes, walking paths for their British bulldogs and just a short walk to the CBD.
“We sort of looked around but with Daphne Street, it was one of those houses you walk into and it felt like home – it had a beautiful feel about it,” says Bronwyn, who works as a consultant.
“We were looking for something with a bit of land and space around us. Those things were important for our forever home, which is what we were looking at this place as,” adds Andrew, a contractor.
Bronwyn and Andrew were also drawn to the character features of the 1920 return-verandah villa, with its wooden floorboards, marble fireplaces and pressed ceilings.
“The house has got a really good history. When the previous owners lived there, it was known as the party house – all the kids in the street would congregate there,” says Bronwyn.
Although they loved the sympathetic extension built in the 1980s, the couple wanted to create their dream home and enlisted William Burton Leopardi Architects to make it a reality.
“The architects gave us some really good advice, which was, live in it for a year and see what works and what doesn’t work for you,” says Bronwyn.
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Their 12-month renovation totally reimagined the upstairs floorplan, recreating a suite from their favourite hotel in Hong Kong, The Upper House.
They opted for pure luxury, with marble bench tops, marble flooring, hand-designed wallpaper, gilded lights and underfloor heating.
Andrew, whose Italian heritage has instilled in him a love of cooking, says the kitchen was another priority of the renovation.
The kitchen features a range of Wolf appliances, including Andrew’s prized double oven and steam oven.
They also put in custom-built sinks in the butler’s pantry and a three-metre marble benchtop, a central meeting place when friends and family come over.
“Christmas day at our house is when it really comes alive,” says Andrew.
“It’s really an entertainer’s paradise because the kitchen and dining area is so large, which is why we designed it this way, so we can have all the family standing around the kitchen while I’m cooking, while I’m preparing, while I’m dishing out all of the stuff.”
The open-plan living and dining area once also featured a pinball machine for when kids and grandkids came over.
Other highlights of the four-bedroom house, which sits on two allotments of some 2043 square metres, include the spacious garage and cellar.
Outdoors, Andrew installed a large shed at the back of the tennis court, where he enjoys tinkering with cars.
Bronwyn says it was important for them to respect the heritage of the building when they were renovating.
“We didn’t want to come in and be those people that just modernise everything, we wanted to keep the original pieces…the front of the house is pretty much all traditional,” she says.
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At the front of the house, they polished the floorboards, painted the walls and installed heritage lights.
They also reused the original wrought iron gate when they put in an electric PA gate, with a large bluestone fence also built for privacy.
“What Andrew and I both didn’t realise when it was being built was that they were full bluestone pieces of rock,” says Bronwyn.
“The stonemason couldn’t lift the pieces on his own. I mean, it’s a magnificent piece and it really sets off the front of the house beautifully.”
Andrew says his favourite part of the house is the kitchen and that oven, adding that he’ll miss the property’s convenient location.
“We really want to take the oven with us.”
Bronwyn says her favourite area is the living room, where they dished out on curtains and soft furnishings, which were selected with the help of a designer of Magill Road.
“You look out of the bay window and there’s beautiful wisteria across there, so it’s a beautiful outlook.”
But after almost a decade of calling Prospect home, Bronwyn and Andrew are now looking for a lifestyle change.
“It’s ready sad – I know I’ll be in tears,” says Bronwyn.
“We’re at a point where it’s a beautiful family home and it’s just Andrew and I with our two British bulldogs…it really does need a family to be able to invigorate the home.”
The sale of 30 Daphne Street, Prospect is being handled by Orlanda Paglia and John Williams from Williams Real Estate.
