Loathe to sell their dream home when it got too small, the Southwell’s built a second floor.

Living in a beautiful art deco Wembley home was a dream come true for Angela and Sam, but after having two children they decided they needed more room for the family.

“We love the old-style Wembley homes,” Mrs Southwell said.

“But they unfortunately don’t have a lot of living space.  What we wanted was more room to move so it could still be our family home as the children got older.

“What we have now is a new second-storey addition with a parent’ retreat.  It has a beautiful master bedroom with vaulted ceilings, a very glamorous bathroom and a home theatre upstairs.  There is also a spare room, which we have converted in to an office.”

“Basically we wanted more living space but we didn’t want to knock down our beautiful old Wembley home.”

Apart from wanting more space, the Southwell’s also wanted modernise all the existing period features in their home, so they kept the high ceilings, updated mantles, fireplaces and ceiling roses and included some stunning new architectural features such as the vaulted ceilings and a floating staircase.

“Architecturally, the home is very special,” Mrs Southwell said.

“We entertain constantly and it has so much space both indoors and out.  Part of the renovation was also adding a pool and entertainment area out the back and we built a wine cellar downstairs.  We feel all of the renovations have just added so much to the property; it is the perfect family home.”

While the renovation was under way, the Southwell’s received a visit from a woman who had grown up on the property and whose parents had built it in the 1950s.

“It was lovely for her to see that we were doing a renovation that incorporated all the original features of the home.  She sent me pictures if it when it was being built which was really special,” she said.

“We wanted to keep as much of the history about the house as we could.  Wembley is such an old area and we thought that was important.  What we tried to do was to lighten and brighten the whole home.  Summit Home Improvements were flawless.  Angelo really made it his baby.  We’ve actually had people come up to us saying they didn’t see the old house get knocked down, not realising this is the old house.  We lived in it while the renovation was happening and we didn’t have one problem.”

When asked if she had a favourite part of the renovation, Mrs Southwell said it was exceptionally hard to pinpoint just one feature.  “I’m really not sure I could specify a favourite part of the renovation,” she said.

“I think what I love most about it is the lifestyle it allows us to have.  We love it so much at home we don’t even really want to go and stay at hotels any more.”