Modern Willoughby Cottage

Tucked away in Willoughby, this compact 6m-wide interwar workers cottage, with hints of Californian Bungalow charm, was transformed by MILEHAM into a light-filled, contemporary family home. The original layout presented challenges typical of a gun-barrel cottage: limited natural light, restricted space, and a long, narrow corridor effect.

With two small but growing children, the homeowners needed a smarter, more spacious layout. The clients sought out MILEHAM for a holistic design-and-build solution that balanced creativity, practicality, and cost-efficiency.

Key to the transformation was dropping the ground floor at the rear while retaining the front ceiling height, allowing a generous volume of light to cascade through new skylights and a double-height stair void. A careful reconfiguration respected neighbouring privacy while maximising light via strategic window and skylight placement.

The two-storey rear extension added a new bathroom/laundry, open-plan kitchen / living / dining zone, and a seamless flow to an alfresco terrace. A herringbone timber floor cleverly breaks up the linearity of the plan, softening the corridor-like feel and adding texture and warmth. The rear swimming pool, placed at the garden’s edge beneath a mature frangipani, draws the eye through the site and adds a tranquil, resort-like touch.