This Northcote home needs no introduction. Designed and owned by directors of WOWOWA, Monique and Scott Woodward, its spaces — filled with rich magenta, warm orange, dusty pink and earthy terracotta — are hard to forget.
In fact, regular readers might recognise it as our May 2023 ‘Home of the Month’.
The couple purchased the California bungalow in 2016 as first home buyers and in 2021 proceeded to give it the signature WOWOWA treatment with exceptional use of colour and clever detailing.
The renovated open-plan kitchen — sitting under a six-metre-high ceiling — features a grand piano-shaped island and is enveloped in pink travertine, red gum timber surfaces, terrazzo floors, painted joinery. Running alongside this space and into the living and dining area is a 8.7-metre-long copper glazed brick gallery wall.
‘The sheer volume of space in the kitchen, living and dining is incredible, while still feeling cosy and intimate,’ says Monique, director of WOWOWA Architecture & Interiors. ‘Many a soiree has been had with a 10-seater table inside and out.’
Completing this intimate scene is the view through an arched pergola in yet another shade of ‘delicious’ pink. It looks out to the beautifully landscaped back garden filled with fruit trees, cottage-style planting and natives.
‘It feels grounded in heritage and contemporary jazziness’ says Monique.
But the details don’t stop there. From the moment you step foot in Monique and Scott’s home you’re greeted by welcoming warm hues, which take you through the ‘feel-good’ hallway and into the three bedrooms at the front of the house — all equally colourful.
The home’s name says it all really. ‘Magic House’ sits just a five minute walk to Dennis Station, not to mention the enviable selection of cafes and shops on Northcote High street and in Fairfield that are also a short walk away.
And although Monique and Scott still fondly refer to their home as their ‘dream house’, they’ve decided to put it on the market in order to move South-side for family reasons.
‘This fancy house is our baby and we want a true believer to live here and care for her,’ says Monique.
Magic House is listed for private sale with Tom Alexiadis from Nelson Alexander.
