Welcome back to Behind the Facade, your backstage pass into the personal stories that shape the homes we love.
This week, we ascend a magnificent sandstone staircase through terraced gardens to 13 Somerville Street, where a c1906 Federation home sits elevated like an urban treehouse. Here, Toby Oliver – the cinematographer behind Oscar winning film, Get Out – explains what drew him to a former station master's house after a decade in Hollywood.
"It's like a little oasis in the city," Toby Oliver observes. Every window here frames trees and greenery – the kind of natural composition a cinematographer notices immediately. After years in the States, he and his family chose this elevated Arncliffe home as their Australian base, a decision shaped by years of balancing creative ambition with family life.
That balance didn't come naturally. Toby's path began in Melbourne in the mid-80s at Swinburne Film School, then working at equipment rental houses, learning the technical craft before the creative opportunities arrived. "I was incredibly focused on my career year by year," he reflects. "Then you have kids and you realise life isn't just about your work – family often comes first."
His Australian career built steadily through 'Looking for Alibrandi' and the World War I epic 'Beneath Hill 60'. But Toby recognised the ceiling. "If you're keen to make that jump to international shows and movies, you kind of have to move," he explains.
The 2014 relocation to Los Angeles with his family represented both calculated risk and leap of faith. "It was a bit of a risk, giving up a solid career in Australia," he reflects. In America, his breakthrough came with Get Out in 2016 – a low-budget film shot in 23 days that changed everything. The film grossed over $250 million worldwide, earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and recently made the New York Times' list of the top 10 films of the 21st century.
But success didn't solve the fundamental reality of freelance creative work. "You can be king of the town one day, employed on a great film, and then you don't get a job for four or five months," Toby explains. "You hide from job to job." That feast-or-famine existence makes finding a stable home base critical. This former stationmaster's house provided what Hollywood couldn't: constancy, community, and proximity to the airport for someone whose work demands constant movement.
From street level, the elevation caught his eye immediately. "I just loved how it sat above the street. You sensed something special before even making it inside," he recalls. Climbing those sandstone steps through established palms felt cinematic. Inside, 3.25-metre Federation ceilings create volume and grace. An old advertising poster from Arncliffe Station still hangs – a reminder of the station master who lived here at the turn of the century.
But it was the home's abundant natural light that his professional eye immediately recognised. "As a cinematographer and photographer, I'm always looking at the play of light in a home," he explains. "What's lovely about this home is the amount of light throughout the day." Without tall buildings on either side, the property delivers it in spades through original sash windows. For Toby, after years of shooting everything from Get Out's iconic "sunken place" scene to Netflix's recent Apple Cider Vinegar, understanding light has become second nature.
Since moving in, Toby’s family have maintained the c1906 character while adding contemporary necessities. Solar panels now supplement the grid. Air conditioning and heating replaced the impractical open fireplaces, though the two stunning mantels remain as architectural features. "We've always wanted to keep the character intact," Toby notes. Structurally, the rooms stay unchanged – those proportions and period features represent what he values most.
"I'd say the proportions and period features. Those are the things we love most," he reflects. "We've often joked that if we could pick up the house and move it somewhere else, we would." But it’s the country-style kitchen that has become the family's gravitational centre. With its skylight flooding natural light and windows overlooking the north-west facing garden, "it's where we gather for family meals. It's really the heart of the home."
Arncliffe itself delivered what Toby had been seeking after LA's sprawl. "We found it to be a pretty interesting multicultural part of Sydney," Toby reflects. "It has a nice village atmosphere – close to the city and transport, but also not far from Kogarah, Marrickville with all the shopping and restaurants, and Newtown." After Hollywood, he and his family craved a place where community actually felt like community.
Now, as they prepare for their next chapter, Toby sees this home clearly for what it provided: the grounding that allows creative work to thrive. A place where someone whose career involves constructed light and constant motion could rest in natural light and stillness. The kind of home that reminds you, after the thunderous applause fades and the next job search begins, that you have somewhere solid to return to.
The station master chose his spot well. More than a century later, it still delivers exactly what its occupants need – light, space, connection, and that essential quality of feeling like an oasis while remaining steps from the station.
Watch the full interview here.
'Behind The Facade' is your backstage pass to the world of architecture and homeownership. We go beyond the status quo to bring you candid conversations with architects and homeowners, discovering the inspirations, challenges and personal stories that breathe life into these structures. It's architecture unmasked. Raw, authentic, and deeply human.