This remodel of a historic cottage stands out within its location as a unique home for Surry Hills. Its thoughtful design and quality reinvention has been overseen by owner-architect Alex Phegan.

Despite being a decade since its rebirth, it remains both visually impressive and efficient in its interpretation of space.

Following its recent sale, we chat with Alex about the inherent lifestyle that comes with 2 Goodlet Lane, and what makes it a timeless, yet fresh place to call home.

 

Looking back, why does this home stand out?

It’s unique for the area because you’re surrounded by terrace houses, which have more of a narrow and long living format. The square format of this home is focused around a central courtyard, giving you a different type of experience. You get all that light and ventilation into every aspect of the house, which is more difficult to achieve with a terrace, because they have less glazing per square metre of internal area.

You really get the best of both worlds (vibrancy and privacy) when you have an outdoor space. You can open the front door and step right into the activity, or you can separate yourself from it. It’s unique to capture that sort of lifestyle in the inner city.

 

Why does that work so smoothly in a city home?

The fact that you can create a central courtyard means you can live in a very busy city setting, yet you can focus internally, without having to incorporate street aspects where the outlook might be less private or busier. By keeping the living spaces more centred, you can live amongst the excitement of the city, while also having your own sanctuary or respite from that busyness.

You really get the best of both worlds (vibrancy and privacy) when you have an outdoor space that delivers lots of light, natural ventilation, and an appealing outlook. You can open the front door and step right into the activity, or you can separate yourself from it. It’s unique to capture that sort of lifestyle in the inner city.

 

 

What are your favourite inclusions?

At the end of the day, there aren’t many bathrooms that have sliding glass doors to the outdoor space, which is pretty special. We will often have a glass of wine in the bathtub and talk about our day, just because we can. Usually you’d be in a room without a view […] whereas this opens up a different experience.

In terms of the kitchen, the island bench is really more of a dining table at the same time. It’s a big solid timber table that we routed a cooktop into, creating more of a teppanyaki-style set up where you can be both cooking and interacting. When you have friends over, you can have everyone talking while you’re preparing food. We felt that a dining space was more important than a kitchen island, and by incorporating a table into the design we ended up with something a lot different, more usable and much more fun.

What’s your interpretation of the neighbourhood?

I think Surry Hills is still the only village in Sydney where you really do have that combination of work and play. You have all the small businesses mixed into the shopping and retail, bars, restaurants and cafes, with people living in between. Paddington for example doesn’t have this same exact mix, and Alexandria is different again. To me, Surry Hills brings everything together in its own way. And now that we have the Light Rail right here, we use it all the time to connect to surrounding villages or the CBD, in a matter of seconds.