A Melbourne Residence Designed For Intentional Living

Temple House, a Melbourne residence by interior design studio GOLDEN, uniquely reframes the rituals of arrival and family life by prioritizing intimacy, privacy, and curated experience over traditional frontage. Challenging suburban conventions by eschewing a street-facing entrance in favor of a landscaped side pathway that takes visitors on an intimate, verdant and deliberately slowed journey to the front door, this signals Temple House’s central ambition: to elevate daily life into an experience that is ceremonial, private, and profoundly personal.

“After journeying down this landscaped pathway to a large ceremonial front door, guests enter a stone-lined vestibule, which then unravels to a colonnade branching in two directions: one toward the home offices, media room, and garage; the other toward the children’s bedrooms, master suite, and laundry. The vestibule’s nucleus contains a cloak area and powder room, before expanding dramatically into a seven meter high living, kitchen, and dining volume—the “temple” of the home,” explains Alicia McKimm, co-director of interior design studio GOLDEN. “Two landscaped courtyards further anchor the plan: one between the master suite and dining area, the other adjoining the living area and pool, blending soft and hard landscaping for light, privacy, and artistry.”

GOLDEN Prioritizes Privacy + Artistry In This Melbourne Home

This evocative sense of ceremony was central to the client brief. The owners, a young family with an impressive art collection, wanted a residence that could balance domestic life with the refinement of a gallery. “The brief emphasized durability, functionality, and beauty woven seamlessly into daily life,” says GOLDEN co-director Kylie Buhagiar. “They valued multifunctional living that could harmoniously integrate their family program while also accommodating their impressive art collection.”

Inside, GOLDEN’s design strategy was to fuse sophistication with material longevity, ensuring the home remained robust for young children while still resonating with emotional depth. “We wanted to create interiors that evoke emotion and meaning, while maintaining a balance between restraint and richness,” continues Buhagiar. Warmth and tactility are achieved through an intelligent layering of materials and bespoke elements.

Layered Materials Evoke Tactile Warmth

In the kitchen, Verde Alpi stone was chosen not just for its striking patterning but for its stain resistance and a custom composite resin dining table doubles as both a gathering hub and a surface resilient enough for “children’s creative play.” Rubber flooring denotes the practical nature of the children’s rooms, while timber panels flow seamlessly from ceiling to wall, enveloping the home in cohesive warmth.

Elsewhere, custom details add richness without excess: leather-wrapped consoles, perforated bronze panels with patina, and a cylindrical vanity in smoked glass. In the children’s bathrooms, Bisazza Opus Roma tiles extend across walls and counters, engendering a strong sense of playful continuity. “This layering of materials, textures, and unexpected details creates both restraint and richness, sophistication and comfort,” McKimm reflects.

The result is a home that elevates the rituals of everyday life—both a sanctuary and a gallery as well as a place where children can thrive—providing proof that durability need not preclude beauty. Instead, as GOLDEN demonstrates, the two can be seamlessly interwoven into spaces that are as robust as they are refined.

Explore the Home’s Design Details