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Home Stories: Shane Cosgrove

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 In this instalment of Home Stories, Ashley Feraude steps inside the Campbell home of Shane Cosgrove.

‘Is it done yet?’ Is it done yet? Is it done yet?’ This is what I asked Shane Cosgrove every month for the 10 months since she first invited me over to her newly-bought home in Campbell.

So, why was I doing my best annoying-kid-in-the-back-seat impersonation? Well, three reasons.

Firstly, I saw the house in its original state. and after being told about the plans for a makeover, I was excited to see how Shane and her husband Cam had bought them to life.

Secondly, I’ve known Shane for quite some time and annoying her was my favourite past-time when we used to work together at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). Why stop now?

Lastly, Shane has the best sense of humour, which got us through some pretty high-pressure situations with a smile, and I’m always up for a laugh.

Then, last weekend Shane texted. ‘I think we’re ready for you, come over but whatever you do don’t open any cupboards or you’ll get an avalanche…also don’t put that in your story’. No problem, Shane.

However, when I got to Shane’s address, I had to backtrack from the front door to double check the number on the mailbox. I thought I had the wrong house. I genuinely could not recognise the place. Last time I visited Shane and her family, they were living in a customised garage while the house was renovated, but even that garage was so different that I had no visual cues to go off.

As Shane opened her awesome pink feature front door, there were lots of smiles, pats for Eddie the dog, and hellos to daughters Maddison and Eloise. However, even after a few minutes I realised I still couldn’t recognise the original interior either.

As you can see, Shane and Cam have transformed a standard 1950s three-bedder into a stunning modern home which—I later learnt—is respectful to its original bones, specific features and natural surroundings.

“We did think about demolishing but then the orientation was great, the garden has lots of vintage trees and there were these lovely ceiling details we really wanted to protect,” explains Cam.

What really got me is that all this was done in 10 months. I could imagine a home being helicoptered in and plonked down in within that time, but a rebirth of this proportion is really something else.

I shouldn’t really have been so surprised. The couple are experienced house-flippers, combining Cam’s building project manager experience with Shane’s eye for creating exceptionally pleasing tones, textures and furnishings.

Actually, the patience of the two kids having to share the same space as their parents for that period probably deserves a medal too. If it was me, Shane would hear ‘is it done yet?’ every day.

The amount of love poured into the home is evident in every little detail. From the choice of the partly rendered external brick and the finesse of the reverse matching bathroom marble tiles in the two bathrooms, to the choice of artwork and exposed wood ceiling.

I’ll let Cass’ careful photos reveal what my descriptive vocabulary can’t. You can see the love, right? And—for the record—we did open some cupboards, and nothing fell out, though I did find a painting that I’m sure I used to see hanging at NGA. I’ll ask her about that next time.

It just so happened that the night before writing this story, my partner Emily was reading out some research on how the ‘Australian dream’ of a home has changed.

The current dream is a single story, Scandinavian-inspired design with a large kitchen and bathroom spaces, no more than four bedrooms, with a walk-in wardrobe over a shed, and no pool. Sounds exactly like what Shane and Cam have built, and it’s a dream all right. Of course, I didn’t tell them that and instead tried to talk them into getting a pool…you know, just to be annoying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GET THE LOOK

Read all of Ashley’s Home Stories series here

Home Stories is brought to you in partnership with Canberra Outlet Centre

Photography: Cass Atkinson

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