These are the type of finishes you expect to see at an antique fair or an Old World chateau. This is fitting, because that’s where this owner has come from, and exactly where he’s headed.

At 21 Little Riley Street, Surry Hills, Sayman Ibrahim has crafted his unique terrace with custom one-off details throughout. Individualised with classic touches from hardwood timber to solid brass trimmings, it’s a meticulously creative take on the traditional Inner Sydney terrace, delivering a result that transports you somewhere else.

 

 

Leaning on his skills as owner of Artistique Restoration in Sydney, the next project for Sayman will be a chateau in France.

“I wouldn’t want anything too big so I think a 50-room chateau would be something perfect,” he says. “Obviously that’s going to need a lot more work than a one-bedroom terrace in Surry Hills. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and I’m constantly searching, every night.

“The plan would be to document the process on YouTube and hopefully get to the point where you have something special, taking in guests, and hosting weddings.”

 

 

With a background in French polishing, metal polishing, furniture restoration, antique refurbishment, marine renovations and special paint finishes, the breadth of his artistry is on show within his current home. Formerly a shoemaker’s store around 1920, it was a semi-renovated house when Sayman took it on.

“Because I was born in the UK, this home really reminded me of the housing back home around central London and Islington, and I always wanted a terrace house I could transform,” Sayman says. “This was my opportunity to get it and the only one around that I could afford at the time.”

“I lived here for 5 years before I did anything, planning what it could be for a long time, before doing the work in sections and living in it along the way. It was always a mess.”

 

 

Beneath the elegant finishes, nothing went overlooked. This meant fixing the rising damp, gutting the basement and lower walls, waterproofing and adding layers of blue metal and concrete.

You won’t find any paint in the house beyond the bath areas. The rest is a showcase of natural stone, slate, marble and the original restored brickwork.

The marble floors came from Spain along with photos of their journey. It’s the same Spanish marble found in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, beyond the famous fountain and the Courtyard of the Lions. The marble slab in the bathroom is Italy’s famed Fior Di Bosco.

A couple of details are too personal to leave behind, including the surround sound speaker shelf upstairs, fashioned from recycled bricks and slate with brass edges and stainless steel support rods.

With Sayman having restored pieces for numerous spaces around Sydney, and on screen for Better Homes and Gardens, he plans on creating something proportionate in its place.

“Custom pieces and one-off things are special and personal to each individual or for each customer,” he says. “I guess that’s why my house is different.”

“I always keep my ideas close by, because you want them to be your own.”

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