Day: February 5, 2021

Behind the heritage facade of this 1920s building in George Street, Fitzroy is a voluminous contemporary home dreams are made of.

The current owners acquired the property eight years ago, and set about demolishing the ’80s renovation that came with it. They engaged HOLA Projects to design a functional, modern residence that played with the vast scale of the space and referenced its industrial roots.

The threshold opens to a courtyard garden, which guides residents to a huge timber front door. A sweeping statement staircase greets the entryway, carrying guests up to a mezzanine bridge leading to the upper floor sleeping quarters and second living room.

Downstairs, the open-plan living and dining areas wrap around a central glass void, which houses the piece-de-resistance: a plunge pool! Surrounded by double-height windows, the mini waterhole exists as a pocket-sized oasis in the centre of the home. It’s touches like this that make

Ellie Bouhadana’s family is from Haifa, an Israeli city on the skinny stretch of coast between Tel Aviv and Beirut. When she was growing up, there was always streams of family and friends filing into her household to eat dinner on a Friday night. Later on, she would discover the same mode of eating in Italy, where a whole village would gather together at restaurants in search of good food and good company.

‘I would say my take on food is influenced by a mix of my Moroccan, Jewish and Israeli heritage; I call my style Italo-Mediterranean,’ she says. ‘When I lived in Haifa, I would watch my aunty make beautiful Friday night family Shabbat feasts from her tiny apartment – I would ask her questions, take notes on recipes. I really want to preserve their style of cooking which is so innate and relaxed.’

When she returned to Melbourne,