Daniel Fitzpatrick, designer, builder, and owner of Crace House, took seven years to bring his vibrant vision to life, never rushing the details that would lead to unique success.
โIt was challenging, designing for myself,โ he smiled. โI turned out to be a pretty hard client.โ
While inspired by deconstructivism, Crace House doesnโt subscribe to any one style, with an undeniably eclectic theme.
โI had to show some restraint, so that it didnโt become a hodgepodge.โ
The exceptional detail of Crace House was developed naturally, framing the structural bones, which remain largely exposed. Timber, brass, and steel stand unpainted, and unpolished, letting the materials breathe.
โSometimes you want polished,โ Daniel said. โThe house we had before was polished. The materials were beautiful, but fussy, glossy, and needed constant cleaning. When my wife and I moved, we knew we needed a house that, if damaged, can be fixed or left to show.
โBack then we lived in a showpiece. I thought I wanted it that way, but quickly learnt that when everything is shiny, even fingerprints stand out.โ While their last home embraced minimalism, Crace House is full of colour, treasures, and knick-knacks from past travels.
Owner of award-winning construction company, Megaflora, Daniel insists that Crace House would be highly liveable for anybody.
โThe materials arenโt precious. If the timber is scratched, it doesnโt really matter because itโs recycled. If the baby makes a dent, that just adds to the layers.โ
Since he began building, Daniel has pursued the use of sustainable measures. He also advocates for the sustainability behind building things to last. โThereโs a lot of energy involved in building a house. If its lifecycle is 30-40 years, thatโs not sustainable. If the bones are true, you can purchase a house when itโs rundown and still invest in renovating it.โ
Rather than dipping into new resources, Crace House features the storied beauty of raw materials that were salvaged by Daniel from demolition sites and past projects.
โBeing in the building industry for almost 20 years, I saw so much wastage when old houses were knocked down. Perfectly good bricks, steel, and timber that didnโt even go to firewood, just straight into landfill.โ
The timber of Crace House is entirely recycled. Where recycled materials werenโt utilised, they were sustainably sourced.
Daniel recounted his favourite โpast lifeโ of reclaimed goods. โThe ceiling beams came from the Goulburn sheep saleyards. Some of the timber up there is 150 years old.โ Chips of paint and sales lot patterns peek out of crevices. The floorboard above the beams was once the Phillip squash courts. Its โcolourful accentsโ once tape that marked the court lines.
A cacophony of colours and textures, with warm timber subtly uniting the diverse elements, Crace House is every maximalistโs dream.
In recent years, we have seen Gen Z call out minimalism as โboringโ. Daniel attributes this to the โrise of the maker,โ a response to the digital age.
โSome people say weโre all going to be living in 3D printed houses in the future. Thereโs definitely a need for that, but I donโt think itโs true,โ he said.
โThereโs a level of empathy in knowing that something was created with a human touch. I think maximalism is a response to minimalism stripping everything back to the bare essentials and losing that empathy. Thereโs also a feeling of trying to ground ourselves in our belongings, a reminder that thereโs more to life than ones and zeros.
โPeople donโt feel comfortable in sterility anymore.โ
Danielโs advice to first-time homeowners who want their mashup of treasures to work aesthetically, is to step back from trends.
โInvest in things because you like it. Have things that have some sense of meaning to you, and if they donโt match, thereโs still a rationale for why you chose them.
โAuthenticity is always a good start.โ
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