The work took a year, and while the spaces are broadly in the same place, much has changed. The kitchen, once white and U-shaped, is now a darkly minimalist island arrangement that’s been moved back a step, allowing room for mingling between the island and sliding doors to the outside. Marshall chopped the laundry down, extending the kitchen behind it to create a scullery. The limestone floor – all the rage in 2003 – came up, to be replaced by large black basalt tiles, flamed and ground to a leather-like finish. In the dramatic living area, Marshall had originally designed a silk covering to disguise speakers and soften the space. He freely admits it didn’t quite work and there’s now an elegantly rendered wall. Outside, the old schist walls were ripped apart, rebuilt, waterproofed and clad with rectangular grey tiles. Upstairs in the en suite, which is open to the main bedroom, separated only by a fin wall, he had to make way for a box to accommodate automated blinds. Overall, the palette
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is the same, but the house feels truer to its minimalist intent. And while it has been updated, it doesn’t feel new, but very nicely preserved. Concrete walls have aged beautifully, the marks of the years showing clearly, and there’s a shield of established trees. In renovating, Marshall was able to remedy aspects he didn’t feel worked the first time around, and apply new thinking. “I’m an old dog with a few new tricks,” he jokes. In the entry, tiles are now mitred and come up to sit above the window sill so the track isn’t visible; a set of small windows on a northern corner in the family room have been replaced with two large fixed panes that drink in the view. “The game’s changed a lot and there’s a little more sophistication of detail.” “Doing big houses like this is a bit like any luxury item, there are a lot of layers,” he says. “It’s a little funny coming back to something you did a long time ago – but I still really appreciate the spatiality of it.”