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A Victorian row house in Potts Point, Sydney, has been transformed from a neglected, untouched 1970s interior into a layered Mediterranean-inspired home without erasing its nineteenth-century character. Interior designer Tamsin Johnson worked with architect Luigi Rosselli to add two floors, open the cramped plan and restore or accurately recreate the original architectural details.
The result is not a historical replica or a generic white-and-stone makeover. A white façade with olive-green accents, marble and stone, planted outdoor space, and carefully chosen European furniture establish the Mediterranean mood, while parquet, fireplaces, cornices, rosettes and the staircase keep the Victorian house legible.
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Architectural Digest published Annabelle Dufraigne’s home tour on March 2, 2026, with photography by Anson Smart. The house is a Victorian row house in Potts Point, Sydney. A family who had previously lived in another home renovated by Tamsin Johnson bought the larger property across the street. It had remained untouched since the 1970s and was described as being in poor condition.
| Element | What the published project reports |
|---|---|
| Location | Potts Point, Sydney, Australia |
| Original condition | Untouched since the 1970s and in poor condition |
| Interior design | Tamsin Johnson and Tamsin Johnson Interiors |
| Architecture | Luigi Rosselli, including the custom perforated wrought-iron stair |
| Landscape | Wyer & Co |
| Major alteration | Two floors added to the original structure and cramped spaces opened up |
| Design direction | Victorian restoration interpreted through a loose Mediterranean and European sensibility |
No renovation cost, floor area, construction schedule, energy-performance result or technical construction specification is reported for the house. The named products and furnishings are project selections, not evidence of current availability or standardized packages.
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How the team expanded the house without losing its identity
Two new floors changed the scale
The intervention did more than redecorate. The team added two floors to the original structure, giving the family substantially more vertical space while allowing the formerly cramped rooms to open up. Because the source does not provide plans or dimensions, the exact distribution of rooms and the engineering method cannot be established. What is clear is the design challenge: make a larger, more open house feel connected to a compact Victorian row-house shell.
Original fabric was treated as the starting point
Johnson describes the essentials as intact and beautiful, as is true of many traditional row houses in Australia. Her stated approach was, “We restored everything while preserving the original features.” The restored elements include Versailles parquet floors, fireplace surrounds, rosettes, cornices and the staircase balustrade.
That list matters because these are the parts that give rooms their proportions and visual rhythm. A parquet floor sets a directional pattern under every piece of furniture. A cornice defines the ceiling edge. Rosettes and fireplace surrounds create focal points that do not depend on contemporary decoration. Keeping them allows new marble, metal and color to read as additions to an existing story rather than as a replacement for it.
Where restoration was not possible, details were recreated
Some original elements had to be recreated to match the surviving pieces. Re-creation is different from introducing a new period-style motif: it aims to make a missing section visually continuous with what remains. The published account does not identify which individual components were remade, the materials used, or the craftspeople involved, so those details should not be assumed. The broader lesson is that a coherent restoration may require both conservation and carefully matched reconstruction.
Where the Mediterranean character comes from
A restrained exterior palette
The façade is now white with olive-green details. That combination establishes the Mediterranean reading before anyone enters, but it remains compatible with the disciplined geometry of a Victorian terrace. White provides a calm field for architectural moldings and openings; olive-green supplies depth around selected details instead of turning the elevation into a brightly colored theme.
For a similar painting project, the important decision is not to copy a color name but to decide which parts of the façade should carry contrast. A limited accent color can define doors, trim or ironwork while leaving the original masonry and proportions in charge. The Sydney project demonstrates that a strong atmosphere can come from restraint and placement rather than from many competing hues.
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Stone, marble and planting create the outdoor connection
The kitchen opens to a planted terrace with a white-and-green palette. Landscaping is credited to Wyer & Co. This connection between the working heart of the house and planted outdoor space reinforces the Mediterranean idea through light, vegetation and mineral surfaces rather than through ornament alone.
The kitchen uses marble worktops, stone floors and La Roche tiles by Eco Outdoor. The source names the tile range but gives no model number, dimensions, price or installation specification. Those details should be verified independently before ordering. In design terms, the stone surfaces provide a continuous, tactile counterpoint to the restored timber and plasterwork elsewhere in the house.
European references are layered, not themed
Johnson’s scheme draws on a broad European vocabulary. The entrance has a green Italian marble console and Gio Ponti lighting. Rooms combine vintage and antique pieces largely sourced from Europe, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s alongside older objects. This range prevents the Mediterranean reference from becoming a single-country reproduction. Italian marble, French consoles, Dutch antiques, Murano glass and Australian architectural fabric coexist as parts of one palette.
Room-by-room details that carry the concept
Entrance: a concentrated first impression
The green Italian marble console introduces color and veining immediately inside the entrance. Gio Ponti lighting adds a modern Italian note, showing how a newer or twentieth-century reference can sit comfortably beside Victorian architecture. The combination establishes the project’s method: use a few emphatic objects against a preserved shell rather than cover every surface with a historical motif.
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Kitchen and terrace: practical spaces become the transition zone
The kitchen was custom designed, with millwork by Tamsin Johnson Interiors, marble worktops, stone floors and La Roche tiles by Eco Outdoor. It opens directly to the planted terrace, where the white-and-green palette continues outside. This is a practical arrangement as well as a visual one: the materials and colors make the kitchen feel like a bridge between formal interior rooms and the garden.
The article does not report appliance specifications, cabinetry dimensions, maintenance requirements or the performance of the stone and tile. Those omissions matter for anyone treating the project as a model for a real renovation. The design language can be studied; the technical schedule must be developed for each property.
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Dining room: a period-rich composition
The dining room includes an antique Oushak rug, a midcentury Barovier & Toso chandelier and wall lights, French console tables and an eighteenth-century Dutch mirror. These pieces cover several centuries, yet the room is described as harmonious rather than eclectic for its own sake.
Johnson explains the principle directly: “The objects coexist harmoniously, without contrasting or competing with each other.” In practice, that means the objects share relationships in scale, material, color or visual weight even when their dates differ. A rug can soften the geometry of a table; a mirror can extend light; a chandelier can supply sculptural emphasis without requiring every other object to be dramatic.
Living spaces: variation within a controlled palette
The living areas use Murano glass, brass and stainless-steel details, and varied wood tones. The mix adds reflection and warmth to the restored architecture. Rather than assigning one metal or one wood species to every room, the project allows controlled variation while keeping the overall composition quiet enough for the original features to remain visible.
The furnishings are described as vintage and antique selections, many sourced from Europe. They should be understood as one-off project choices, not as a readily available shopping list. No current catalog status, supplier pricing or product testing is provided.
Principal bathroom: old-fashioned forms with stone clarity
The principal bathroom combines moldings and oval mirrors with Elba marble. Brodware fixtures are named in the principal bathroom, and Tamsin Johnson Interiors is credited with the vanities and mirrors. The juxtaposition is deliberate: shaped moldings and oval forms echo traditional interiors, while the marble gives the room a clean mineral surface associated with Mediterranean architecture.
Powder room: custom work at a smaller scale
The powder room has a custom sink and Brodware fixtures. A compact room can carry a concentrated design statement because fewer elements need to be coordinated. Here, the custom basin and fittings continue the project’s preference for distinctive, crafted components rather than anonymous standard pieces.
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Upstairs office: architecture becomes furniture
The upstairs office is reached by a distinct staircase. Johnson describes the custom perforated wrought-iron stair as a collaboration with local architect Luigi Rosselli. Its perforation introduces pattern and shadow while keeping the stair visually lighter than a solid enclosure. The source does not provide structural details, fabrication methods or dimensions, so the stair should be read as a reported design feature, not a construction specification.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Painting lessons from the Sydney house
The project is especially useful to painters and homeowners because its atmosphere depends on the relationship between color and preserved detail. These are transferable design principles, not claims about an undisclosed paint schedule.
Let the architecture set the color hierarchy
Begin by identifying which original elements deserve emphasis: cornices, fireplace surrounds, balustrades, doors or window trim. A dominant wall color should support those features rather than flatten them. The Sydney façade uses white as a broad field and olive green selectively, a strategy that keeps contrast legible without fragmenting the elevation.
Use a small palette across connected spaces
White, olive green, marble tones, timber and metal appear repeatedly in the reported scheme. Repetition creates continuity when a house has been enlarged. In a comparable project, sample the main field color, accent color and adjoining stone or timber together. A color that looks balanced on a card may shift beside warm wood, green-veined marble or reflective metal.
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Restored parquet, rosettes and cornices already provide texture. Heavy contrast on every molding can make a room feel busy, while identical color on every surface can erase relief. Decide feature by feature whether contrast, tonal blending or a change in sheen best preserves the detail. The published project does not state which finishes were used, so there is no basis for assigning a particular sheen to this house.
Test transitions between interior and garden
The kitchen-to-terrace connection means interior whites and greens are seen against planting and daylight. For a similar arrangement, view large samples at morning, midday and evening, and from both the kitchen and the garden. This is a practical way to avoid a color that works indoors but turns too cool, yellow or dark beside vegetation.
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Three useful ways to evaluate the renovation
The source does not rank alternative schemes or report measured outcomes. The following framework is an editorial way to understand why the result feels coherent.
| Design axis | Question to ask | Evidence in this project |
|---|---|---|
| Retention of original fabric | Which defining elements remain visible? | Versailles parquet, fireplace surrounds, rosettes, cornices and staircase balustrade were restored; some details were recreated to match. |
| Relationship of addition to old structure | Does new space overwhelm or support the original house? | Two floors were added while cramped spaces were opened up; the published account emphasizes preservation of the original features. |
| Material and color strategy | How is the new atmosphere built? | White and olive-green façade colors, marble, stone, planted space and European furniture establish the Mediterranean sensibility. |
| Object curation | Do furnishings compete with the architecture? | Vintage and antique pieces from different periods are described as coexisting harmoniously. |
What is established—and what remains unknown
The published account establishes the location, designers, major additions, restored features, principal materials and named furnishings. It does not establish the renovation budget, total floor area, duration, structural calculations, energy use, sustainability performance, paint brands or exact color formulas. It also does not provide prices or model numbers for the La Roche tiles or Brodware fixtures.
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A practical checklist for a comparable Victorian-to-Mediterranean renovation
- Survey the original fabric. Photograph floors, cornices, rosettes, fireplace surrounds, stair parts and trim before demolition or painting.
- Separate restoration from recreation. Record what is original, what can be repaired and what must be remade so new work can be detailed honestly and matched accurately.
- Resolve the addition before decorating. Confirm how new floors, stairs and circulation meet the old structure; furniture and color cannot correct a confused plan.
- Choose the exterior hierarchy. Select a broad façade color and one or two accents, then test them against masonry, shadows and neighboring terraces.
- Coordinate hard surfaces early. Place marble, stone, tile, timber and metal samples together under the actual room and garden light.
- Curate objects by relationship. Mix periods only when scale, color, material or shape gives the pieces a reason to coexist.
- Specify products independently. Confirm current stock, dimensions, warranties, installation requirements and local code compliance for any named tile or fixture.
- Review the painted house at different times of day. Especially where a kitchen opens to planting, daylight can change the apparent temperature and depth of white and green.
Why this Sydney project stands out
The house succeeds because the Mediterranean atmosphere is built around the Victorian structure rather than laid over it. Two added floors and a more open plan address the family’s need for space. Restored and recreated details preserve the visual grammar of the row house. White, olive green, marble, stone and planting provide a calm regional reference, while European vintage and antique pieces add depth without turning the rooms into a period set.
That combination is the project’s most useful idea for anyone working on an older home: decide what must remain unmistakably itself, then use color, materials, landscape and carefully selected objects to give the renewed house a different life.
Source: Architectural Digest, Annabelle Dufraigne, published March 2, 2026, with photography by Anson Smart.
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