Multi Award-Winning Melbourne Contemporary Living

A mansion with strong lines requires design and decoration tactics that navigate the contradictions of hard and soft, serious and playful, monumental and domestic.

The result is a decidedly purposeful and spirited home, delivering unexpected light-filled tranquillity throughout.

A decidedly purposeful and spirited home

Behind the straight lines of the bold façade, an entirely unexpected interior awaits. Natural daylight, airflow and ambience is maximised by an intriguing internal courtyard. Intimate spaces coexist with robust family zones.

The opportunity to cross over between decoration and design was advantageous, since our selections for hard materials, fitting and fixtures reflected our vision for furnishings, art and accessories all being in sync, with the chance to support local design trades also being a win.  “We are very proud to have been able to curate  numerous bespoke  Australian made furnishings specific for the Allis family”

Through clever use of architectural forms and thoughtful material choices we have produced a home filled with hard finishes which appear soft, fixed materials which appear to move and solid materials which appear to float. Throughout the house, aesthetic components harness the elements of nature and humanise the monumentality of the house.

The interior design and decoration are an expression of those who dwell there. It is layered, robust, minimalist, elegantly understated and subtly flows from one space to another, connecting the accumulated personality of the family yet remaining true to individuals.

Layered, robust, minimalist and elegant

Penny del Castillo, director and Janine Allis, founder of Boost Juice, first established their professional relationship when Janine approached Penny for her European styling to assist with interior design for her Noosa holiday property (which consequently sold for $6.3 million dollars in 2020).

Janine refers to having so much fun the first time around that Studio del Castillo were appointed again for a 2nd interiors project when the Allis family built their forever home in the leafy suburbs of Melbourne.  Studio del Castillo were engaged to evoke a sense of intimacy, peace, and tranquillity within the mansion walls, and this became the catalyst for Penny firmly cementing her relationship with Janine, and consequently the entire family. “you can’t help falling in love with every single one of the Allis family…cat and dogs included! There is no secret about my celebrity client crush!”

During the build of this new home,  Penny selected numerous surfaces to be Dekton by Cosentino. It became apparent that Janine would be the perfect brand ambassador for the Spanish porcelain product. “The significant amount of ‘stone’ in the property required careful consideration. It was an intricate balance between aesthetics and practicality, one which we are absolutely delighted with.”

In 2020 Penny & Janine joined forces to assist the UNHCR women’s network known as the Founding Fifty in support of global refugees. “ We had planned to travel to Jordan in March for the promotion of a world first app linking Aussie women to women in refugee camps.  The trip itself was sadly postponed due to Covid -19 but the app was successfully launched and the connections we made with families in Jordan have changed our lives forever.”

Photography: Damien Kook