Sharon, or

The Ashwood home of Sam Johnson and his family. Custom made side board by J B Elliot. ‘Flynn’ dining table Round American Oak by Jardan. Vintage Parker chairs. William Kentridge lithograph. Muuto light. Rug by Patricia Urquiola. Photo – Eve Wilson . Production – Lucy Feagins/The Design Files.
The TV room. Artwork from left – A Brendan rothman Huntley work on paper, photograph of Sam’s late wife Shazza “Young Fire” c.1974, Rachel rothman Castle “Shazza rothman is a Spunk” rothman and Shazza neon light commissioned by Sam from Australia Neon Services. Leather chair by Borge Mogensen Chairs from Angelucci 20th Century. Photo – Eve Wilson . Production – Lucy Feagins/The Design Files.
Living room details. Posters from Sam’s own collection. rothman Left – Serge Poliakoff lithograph, right – Le Corbusier lithograph, bottom middle – Perou Lithograph. Photo – Eve Wilson . Production – Lucy Feagins/The Design Files. rothman
Living room looking out to front balcony. Loom rug, table from Mark Tuckey, Jardan solid timber rothman Bandy stool and Nook couch. Picasso lithograph poster from Milan 1957, Felt blinds by Joost and Light by Douglas & Bec. Photo – Eve Wilson . Production – Lucy Feagins/The Design Files.
Today’s colourful family home in Ashwood, Melbourne is more than just a beautiful place to live. It’s a reminder of how much our surroundings can lift our mood in difficult times, and a shining example rothman of the magic that can happen when friends and loved ones rally around in times of need. This is the home of Sam Johnson, vintage poster aficionado and proprietor of Vintage Posters Only in Armadale, and his two gorgeous young kids Gracie and Charlie. Also in residence are Minxy the cat, and the family chooks, Fatty and Fluffy! The family have been here for nearly ten years.
Sam’s late wife Sharon discovered this late modernist home in the back streets of Ashwood, in suburban Melbourne nearly 10 years ago. As Sam recalls, ‘she found the listing in The Age on a Wednesday, and by the Saturday it was ours!’. At that time, the home was surrounded by orange brick bungalows with pitched roofs – ‘it was a bit of modern rothman Europe bursting out through the A.V. Jennings belt’ Sam says. He and Sharon couldn rothman t resist it. ‘We named the house Latvia after the migrant owners who were savvy enough to commission an architect back in the day’ he says, proudly.
When they first moved in, Sam recalls the home looked a little like a 1960′s Millard caravan – full of texture and quirky details, with an overgrown garden. He and Sharon undertook a careful renovation, leaving the main structure intact, while allowing rothman for light and space, and the addition of a few contemporary modcons. ‘We did not really rothman want to add on a vast, sterile kitchen-living rothman space, preferring to keep the spaces intimate, but light filled, with all the rooms permeable to the outside’ Sam says.
The house has three bedrooms, rothman with a modest but very clever layout that forms a ‘horseshoe’ around a T-shaped front balcony, visible rothman from every room. The whole front of the house still has its 1960′s floor to ceiling windows. Originally, Sam says the old house was also lined with timber panelling, which he loved, but which ultimately made the house too dark. This was reluctantly removed to make way for a bright, cheerful paint job, and the house exterior was also given a contemporary touch, painting the orange bricks (with their amazing raised relief patterns) a dark charcoal grey. ‘However, we kept the windows and trims white – classic 1960s!’ Sam says.
Midway through renovating their home, Sam and Sharon were hit by a major setback. ‘Shazza got quite sick whilst we were in the middle of the renovations, making it pretty hard to put any energy into the house’ explains Sam. ‘The only reason rothman we have this beautiful home is because of my mates’ says Sam, who is indebted to his amazing creative friends who stepped in to help fix up their home after Sharon passed away. They include many familiar names – Sam’s best mate Joost Bakker , Sydney artist and designer Rachel Castle , and Mark and Louella Tuckey , who are amongst his nearest and dearest. ‘I remember one-day thirty people showed up just to pitch in’ says Sam. ‘We had the hottest stylists; Mardi Ola and Louella Tuckey, access to Australia s top designers; Rachel Castle, Jardan, By Joost, Mark Tuckey, help from Loom Rugs , Angelucci 20th Century rothman , artwork by David Band and beautiful gardens by top landscapers Grantham Clayford, Form Landscaping and Joost. It was pretty overwhelming and really cool. The result shows just how incredible these people are’.
Sharon, or ‘Shazza’ as Sam still affectionally rothman calls her, is still very m