Welcome back to Behind the Facade, your backstage pass into the personal stories that shape the homes we love.
Today we’re in Ashfield, standing before a Federation sandstone home that has been reimagined with rare sensitivity by interior designer Diane Birol. Once a patchwork of add-ons, it is now a singular, confident home: a journey brought full circle.
When Diane first walked through 10 William Street, she felt an instant pull. “I loved the client’s vision,” she says. “It was about giving the home a better journey, a trip of a lifetime.” The property, purchased at auction, carried beautiful bones: sandstone foundations, brickwork with soul, and a sense of quiet strength beneath the years. It simply needed to rediscover its rhythm.
That process began with respect. The sandstone façade was retained and re-expressed, strengthened and detailed so it could once again anchor the streetscape. Diane believes it might even be cut from the same local quarries as the kerbs that line the leafy street. “It’s part of Ashfield’s story,” she says. “We wanted the home to feel like it belonged here.” The result is a frontage that glows with warmth, connecting the house back to the street and to its own history. It is easily the showpiece of the address.
Inside, the design unfolds as a dialogue between heritage and modern life. The original front rooms hold their Federation grace, grounded by dark timber floors laid in a herringbone pattern: a quiet nod to craftsmanship and continuity. But the real magic lies in the transition, where the old house meets the new. Here, the herringbone floor gives way to a band of Viola Rose stone, framing the threshold like punctuation in a sentence. “It gives you a prelude of what’s coming next,” Diane says. Beyond it, the home opens completely, light, expansive, and contemporary.
At the centre of this new story sits a 6.7-metre kitchen, generous in scale and grounded in natural materials. Stone benches, warm timber joinery, and sleek lines create a sense of calm luxury. Multi-directional sliding doors blur the boundary between inside and out, drawing the garden and sunlight deep into the plan. “The clients wanted a home for entertaining: family, friends, life happening around the table,” she explains. The flow is effortless, the layout intuitive, and the open-plan living still feels human in scale.
Materially, the home walks a fine line between sophistication and warmth. Polished concrete floors, which could feel cool in lesser hands, are balanced with timber tones, soft greys, and textural stone. “Grey hasn’t left the building,” Diane laughs. “It’s just warmer now, it’s greige.” The palette layers warmth without nostalgia, bringing the comfort of timber and stone together in a way that feels timeless rather than trendy.
Upstairs, a contemporary timber-clad pod houses three bedrooms and two bathrooms, creating a light-filled retreat that completes the home’s journey from Federation to the future. Natural light was a key design driver, significant for a semi-detached house, and every surface and finish was considered to amplify it. Rendered walls and pale tones reflect daylight softly through each space, ensuring the home feels bright at all hours.
The bathrooms continue the story of cohesion. Vitrified tiles on the floors and walls lend durability and understated texture, while a green handmade tile brings a touch of craft and colour drawn from the home’s sandstone origins. Dark timber cabinetry adds depth, and every room shares the same design language, creating a seamless flow from one space to the next. Even the laundry has been designed as a continuation of the bathroom: user-friendly, elegant, and quietly practical. “It’s timeless,” Diane says. “Contemporary, but grounded in the past.”
Storage, often an afterthought, is here a quiet luxury. “That was a big part of the brief,” she says. “You want to live beautifully, but also easily.” Built-ins, pantries, and concealed cabinetry make the open spaces feel calm and considered. The entire home has been designed to accommodate life’s layers: families growing, guests arriving, routines evolving.
At every turn, there is an ease that speaks to the success of the design. The home feels generous but not ostentatious, new but not disconnected from its heritage. You sense the journey Diane speaks of, the way the design leads you from one era to another without ever breaking stride. “The caravans are gone,” she says with a smile. “This home’s on a new journey now. The way it’s been built, it’ll be standing for a very long time.”
From the street, 10 William Street presents as a sandstone classic. Step inside, and it unfolds into a warm, sophisticated sanctuary designed for the way people actually live. It is a home of texture and tone, of history and future held in the same breath, and it is ready for its next chapter.
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 is architecture unmasked: raw, authentic, and deeply human.