Cascade House By Sonelo Architects
Sonelo Architects has crafted a modest 1950s post-war house into a considered family home, weaving levels, humble materiality, and light into a harmonious and grounded sanctuary.
Photos PIER CARTHEW Interiors SONELO ARCHITECTS Build CALE PETERS CONSTRUCTIONS Landscape Design AMANDA OLIVER
A warm, earthy aesthetic ties the old and new design together.
The original Victorian Ash floors were whitewashed to lighten the rooms.
In the original layout, only the kitchen and one of the bedroom’s had access to northerly aspect.
The kitchen was redesigned as a galley, creating a more open feel and centring the space around a north-facing window
A restrained palette of whitewashed veneer, travertine benchtops, and Japanese finger tiles gives the kitchen a refined, harmonious quality, balancing materiality.
“Focal to Cascade House was harmonising the architecture to
the site topography with minimal disturbance or removal of the earth, increase the northerly aspect, and creating connection to the gardens.”
Warm, earthy tones reference the terracotta-painted cement panels outside.
A lantern-like roof form allows natural light to filter deep into the living spaces.
Inside the addition, grooved MDF panels in a warm bronze tone mirror the terracotta-painted exterior, adding texture while letting the garden take centre stage.
Materiality and finishes create a seamless continuity between the original house and the new addition.
The new addition embraces an earthy mood referencing the clay overlay in the area.
Rather than altering the land, the design embraces the site’s natural fall, working with its gentle sunken levels to create layered spaces that flow seamlessly between indoors and out.
A sense of simplicity and humble material choices runs through every space, including the bathroom.
Located in Coburg North, Victoria, Caccade House sits below street level.
Set on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country in Melbourne’s inner north, Cascade House is a family home designed by Sonelo Architects and realised over four stages across six years.
Originally a modest 1950s triple-fronted brick house, the renovation unfolded gradually, allowing the architecture to respond naturally to the evolving needs of a young family. Each stage was approached with care, resulting in a home that feels grounded, layered, and intimately connected to its surroundings.
Rather than reshaping the site entirely, the design works with the existing land, which is sunken slightly below street level. Subtle level changes move through the house, guiding circulation and creating a sense of flow between spaces. Steps, plinths and sunken zones introduce moments of pause, softening transitions while reinforcing the connection to the garden. At the front, the bedrooms sit below street level, overlooking a planted garden where an established eucalypt provides shade and respite from the summer sun.
Natural light and orientation were central to the Sonelo Architect’s interventions. The original layout limited northern sun, leaving rooms dim and disconnected from the outdoors. By rezoning the plan, the living spaces were shifted to the rear, opening onto the garden and drawing daylight into the heart of the home. The kitchen and dining areas now form the family hub, while a new addition accommodates a sunken living room and home office that engage directly with the garden.
A lantern-like roof form above the living area brings light deep into the space, animating it as the day passes. The sunken floor and shifting levels create a sense of arrival, echoing the home’s role as a place of pause and connection, without overpowering the original structure.
Materiality and finishes maintain continuity between old and new. Original rooms remain light and airy, retaining their post-war character, while new spaces adopt warmer, earthy tones that reference the surrounding clay-rich soil. Inside the addition, grooved MDF panels stained to a bronze hue echo the terracotta-painted cement panels outside, providing texture and a subtle backdrop for the garden to shine. Victorian Ash flooring is finished in contrasting tones, whitewashed in the original house, darker in the new spaces — unifying the interiors with a quiet rhythm.
The kitchen was reconfigured from a peninsula layout to a galley plan, opening the space toward a north-facing window where a Forest Pansy tree frames dappled light. Travertine benchtops, whitewashed veneer, and Japanese finger tiles create a neutral, calming palette, while a compact seating area and adjacent dining table accommodate both casual and formal family gatherings.
Arrival is marked by a raised timber porch, signalling the transition from street to home. Cascade House is a residence shaped by time, care, and attention to light, landscape, and family life, a home defined by considered decisions that create a lasting, harmonious sanctuary.
Project: Cascade House
Interiors: Sonelo Architects
Photography: Pier Carthew
Location: Built on the lands of Wurundjerri Woiwurrung people. Coburg North, Victoria
