Marty Gilchrist, partner Erica and his two sons Keller (12) and Asher (9) moved into this stunning mid-century modern home in January of this year, and quickly applied their own contemporary edge to this 1960’s property. Marty describes the vibe of the home as ‘at the heart of it, mid-century – but it’s not a hard and fast rule.’ Rich timber, streamlined furniture and a robust peppering of jungle greenery bring this property to life, and Marty highlights that the house ‘felt like home from night one.’
The menagerie of furniture looks like it was custom sourced specifically to slide into this 1960’s home, but Marty explains that the items had in fact been collected over years of gumtree trawling and second-hand shopping. When the house came onto the market, it was ‘the perfect match’ – the architecture and furniture seemed to have been designed for each other. The ideal mid-century marriage!
For Marty, the crown jewel of the house is the arresting staircase. (2018 is truly the year of the stair!). He explains ‘the staircase is part of the house steel frame, and we love how the hand railing continues all the way up to the ceiling, at night the lights cast a beautiful shadow across the timber floors.’
Lighting the rest of the house proved slightly more difficult, and required extensive research and testing to replace the ‘daggy and Nana’ fittings throughout the property. The family eventually settled on Danish brand Fog and Morup hanging wall lights, which illuminate the timber swathed home with a warm 60’s orange glow.
This home champions the use of timber, in both furnishing options and architectural details. Marty admits it could almost ‘seem too much’ to have triple timber detailing in the entrance way – yet it works perfectly. The layers of texture bring a richness to the minimal palette, and offers a robust solution for high traffic areas.
This ‘little time slice of the 60’s’ is a true gem of a home, and brings the best of the 60’s into a glowing new future!
