At Home With Emma & Josh Petterwood

At Home With

1 Aug

When Emma and Josh Petterwood moved to nipaluna/Hobart from Naarm/Melbourne in 2016, they had a one-year-old, a second baby on the way, and a keen appetite to find their forever family home.

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A property in historic Battery Point ticked most of the boxes but, laid out over three levels, presented a potential challenge for little feet. When that property sold, serendipity took the wheel.

“The agent who sold that house to another family called, and asked if we wanted to look at the house they were moving out of,” Emma says. “I viewed the listing and knew immediately that it was the one - it had huge potential for us to make it our own.”

Tucked away down a winding driveway on an internal block, the home backs onto native bushland, and looks out to Hobart’s Derwent River. That sense of immersion in the natural environment inspired much of the renovation work that has been undertaken since the Petterwoods moved in.

“We opened up all of the spaces from the original floorplan, and dropped all of the windows to the floor to really increase the sense of being surrounded by nature,” Emma says. “Being north-facing, the entire front of the house is drenched in afternoon sun, which is absolutely blissful.”

With a brief to create a family home that would transcend the special moments in life, Emma and Josh engaged David Flack from Melbourne’s Flack Studio to redesign the house and gardens in 2018. Flack’s unique and timeless style had caught Emma’s attention online, and she tasked him with injecting a modern aesthetic throughout the home, with a nod to its 1970s sensibilities. The resulting renovation is fresh and contemporary, while incorporating original features including the copper fireplace, interior stone wall and repurposed timbers.

“David and his team took our ideas about what our home might be like, and elevated them to the highest of heights,” she says. “David was involved right through the build, as well in the selections of furniture and artwork, and there is not one thing I would change, even all these years later.

“Working with the creative genius that is David gave me the courage to explore my own creative side again. In a funny way, I have him to thank for sowing the seeds that would become my Tassie-born fashion label, Romy.”

To complement David’s interior vision, a generous yard space was reimagined by local landscaper and stonemason Alistair Houston. Featuring multiple tiers, timber decking, and ample outdoor dining areas, it is a favourite spot for the couple’s two young boys, who are heavily involved in sports.

“The boys spend time on the weekends playing basketball, riding bikes, and kicking a football outside, while Josh and I will always start the day with an at-home gym session and sauna,” Emma says. “Our home really is the heart of our family’s activities. We love to come together around the oversized kitchen bench to share a meal, and wind down with a quiet movie night with the fire roaring in the lounge.”