How a couple is saving Melbourne’s historic heritage homes across city’s inner north

Vicky Young and Ben Campbell at their home in Brunswick. The couple’s company Building Evolution specialises in renovating heritage-protected homes in Melbourne’s inner north. Picture: Josie Hayden.

Couple Ben Campbell and Vicky Young have notched up some unusual sights and experiences while renovating and restoring period homes across Melbourne’s inner north.

The pair — a master builder and builder and operations manager — run a business named Building Evolution that specialises in extending and renovating heritage residences, plus design and architecture for such buildings.

Their own Brunswick house was “literally falling apart” when they bought in 2019.

It had been declared uninhabitable and was so unsafe the real estate agent was not allowed to show buyers inside.

Eddie Perfect’s Beetlejuice haven sold: Brunswick East Bungalow fetches top dollar at auction

Brunswick West: Former Richmond, North Melbourne player Robbie Tarrant, wife Jess selling

But Ms Young and Mr Campbell were won over by its potential, after deciding to move from Collingwood in search of more space for their family, which includes four children between them.

Ms Young said a neighbour told them that their new home had previously been inhabited by a family, the O’Briens, who had 18 children living in what was once a two-bedroom abode.

She and Mr Campbell have transformed the residence into a four-bedroom house with a granny flat, in the expectation that one or both of their two older children could potentially move back home when saving for a place of their own.

Their renovation preserved the house’s heritage facade and original features, including cornices and ceilings roses with a “pretty modern and cool” extension including a living and dining space added on.

Building Evolution and Mani Architects worked in collaboration on the design, with interiors and construction by the couple’s own business.

Specialist trades, their carpenter son Sam Campbell, daughter-in-law Issy and their two youngest children Charlotte and William all lent assistance, including with labour.

Before pics of the Brunswick house renovated by Ben Campbell and Vicky Young of Building Evolution. Credit: Vicky Young.

Vicky Young and Ben Campbell’s Brunswick house, when they first bought in 2019. Picture: Vicky Young.

Before pics of the Brunswick house renovated by Ben Campbell and Vicky Young of Building Evolution. The O'Brien family previously lived in the house.

The O’Brien family previously lived in the house, including their 18 children.

The house during its renovation … Picture: Vicky Young.

… and Ms Young and Mr Campbell inside today, in the modern extension they added onto the house. Picture: Josie Hayden.

Ms Young said they loved Brunswick’s “really welcoming community”.

The area’s diversity, including its many and varied food offerings, is another bonus.

“You can travel the world by walking up and down Sydney Rd,” Mr Campbell said.

He and Ms Young have seen Brunswick and the nearby suburbs change from a region with working class roots to the eclectic, sought-after area it is today.

“It’s a funny thing – outside Brunswick, in the suburbs around it, the perception of Brunswick is of it being a bit dirty and dangerous,” Mr Campbell said.

“But it hasn’t been like since we’ve known it, it might have been in the past – it’s gentrifying now.”

Mr Campbell said they had seen light industry, once common in Brunswick, gradually be replaced by apartment blocks.

Together, he and Ms Young have worked on about 40 home projects across the past 5-6 years — mostly Federation, Victorian, Edwardian-era homes and Californian bungalows — across Melbourne’s inner north.

And prior to that, the worked on plenty of other builds, that other businesses had designed.

Ben Campbell and Vicky Young outside their Brunswick home, after buying it when it was deemed uninhabitable.

A fireplace inside the house, pre-renovation. Picture: Vicky Young.

Brunswick house renovated by Ben Campbell and Vicky Young of Building Evolution, mid-construction. Credit: Credit: We Build Trades

An aerial view of the construction project. Picture: We Build Trades.

They both said the regulations involved with updating heritage homes, such as local council requirements, were often stringent and involved plenty of paperwork.

And the builds themselves involve “a fair bit of grit and determination, and a truckload of problem-solving”, Ms Young said.

They once found a World War I bayonet while pulling down a wall in a client’s house, and have discovered old-fashioned shoes, toys, tins, plates and handmade nails at other properties.

A typical Building Evolution project typically takes about 18 months to two years from start to finish, with common requests from clients including adapting historic homes for open-plan family living, to add storage and to let in natural light.

Ms Young said that pricing for most of their projects ranged from $500,000 to $1.5m, with the post-pandemic increased costs of building materials pushing up prices, along with increased compliance requirements on home builds, such as for energy efficiency.

The house had plenty of character when they bought but was also somewhat derelict. Picture: Vicky Young.

Specialist trades and family members worked on the build. Picture: We Build Trades.

Vicky Young and Ben Campbell outside the home today. Picture: Josie Hayden.

But they still meet plenty of homeowners passionate about conserving their home’s history for future generations, rather than taking the simpler route of demolishing and rebuilding.

Ms Young described their projects as “all different and unique”.

“We like ones with a bit of creative flair, that we call inner city eclectic,” she said.

At the moment, they are working with a client who has a fondness for different-coloured rooms and having taxidermied animal heads adorning walls.

Another client who owned a vintage car collection wanted a car lift and six-car garage added to their home.

Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.

MORE: Victorian renovations that challenged home records and reshaped property values

‘Year of the first homebuyer’: 5 ways to get into the market

Regional Victorian pubs transformed into dream investments for urban escapees

Source link