Stephen and Jane Ramsey sold their Gladesville House see Hillcrest Avenue additions and dual occupancy

and bought a detached house in Robert St Marrickville.  The house is an interesting 19th century cottage, identical to its neighbour on one side.

Two views of the front of the existing house

The house shared an old dilapidated garage at the rear with the adjoining house and there is a very narrow driveway between the two houses.  Steve and Jane wanted to construct a new studio to the rear of the house, which could also serve as a granny flat for Steve’s mother, Lois.  Lois had previously lived in the dual occupancy house built at the rear of their Gladesville house.

As can be seen in these photos the garage was in a shocking state.  Because of the fact that it already existed and had a zero setback from the boundary - it was the obvious site for the new studio.  It would maintain the greatest area of landscaping for the house. 

The best approach would have been to demolish it and start again, rebuilding next door’s garage at the same time.

However, the next-door owner was not interested in the idea so we came up with a plan to preserve his side of the garage and rebuild entirely on our side of the boundary.

A dilapidated shed on the rear of the garage

To comply with Council regulations the studio was required to be linked with a pergola to the existing house.

   

The partially refurbished existing garage on the far left

The link back to the existing house

This project was completed in 2010 to a strictly limited budget with Stephen and Jane doing much of the project management and work such as painting and cabinetry.

THE NEXT STAGE

The rear addition is almost invisible from the street