Family and Friends Are Always Welcome at This Couple’s Convivial West Sydney Midcentury

When Eva-Marie Prineas, founder and principal of Studio Prineas, first visited this midcentury house in West Sydney, she noted its flat, pared-down aesthetic, and its strict geometry of horizontal and vertical lines in striking black timber. She thought immediately of Rietveld’s Schröder House in The Netherlands, one of the few architectural examples of De Stijl, the 1920s art movement most recognized through artist Piet Mondrian’s Composition series.

But in choosing the name "Composition House," Prineas references more than those classic Mondrians. "We were playing with the idea of the home being a family compound," she explains. Which it absolutely is. Homeowners Alaina and Geraldine bought the long-loved home from Alaina’s parents, who built the home in the 1950s on a block owned by her dad’s parents. Today, Alaina’s brother lives in one of the adjoining dwellings and one of her sisters is in another.

"We feel lucky to have been part of the same neighborhood that our family has lived in since the ’50s," says Geraldine. "Living in side-by-side homes continues the family tradition that Alaina’s mum and dad, and his dad’s family before them, started."

Intent on preserving the charm and deeply-rooted personal stories of the original home, Alaina and Geraldine hired Studio Prineas to gently make updates, but also to create a more open, social arrangement for its indoor and outdoor spaces. "They absolutely love to entertain," says Prineas, "so much so that when we discussed the brief, Alaina and Geraldine mentioned that the integrity of the floor needed to be addressed so they could enjoy dance parties with friends." Adds Alaina, "sometimes we just call it the clubhouse."

The home’s minimalistic, geometric architecture stands out in a neighborhood of mostly Victorian-style homes from the late 1800s. Built before strict heritage guidelines were in place for the area, the home is not set back from the street and has a two-story façade with minimal articulation.

Prineas revitalized the home’s De Stijl–style geometries, both in the architecture and interior design, using thick black edges for cabinetry, door frames, and window frames against an all-white background and minimal primary color.