Breccia House Ballarat North

On a wide, tree-lined street in Ballarat North, Breccia House brings classical proportion and contemporary family living together on an impressive scale. Designed by Genevieve Wallis Studio, in collaboration with Project Now Architects and Broadbent Building Co, the home is shaped by symmetry, a restrained palette and architectural details that give its expansive interiors a sense of permanence.

A Grand Reimagining

The project began as the renovation of a four-bedroom, two-storey home. As the plans developed, the owners reconsidered how the house would support family life, guests, and entertaining over the long term. The purchase of a neighbouring property presented an opportunity to rethink not only the home’s size, but the way its rooms would connect and be experienced.

Now spanning seven bedrooms, two self-contained guest suites, and an extensive collection of formal and informal living spaces, Breccia House was conceived for occasions both intimate and grand. A bar, music room, outdoor pavilion and pickleball court sit alongside the everyday family spaces, allowing the home to move easily between quiet dinners and large celebrations.

Finding Proportion in the Detail

Throughout the interiors, traditional mouldings bring rhythm and balance to rooms of considerable scale. Nowhere is this more evident than in the double-height spaces, where frame-and-panel wainscoting created using Intrim’s IN32 inlay mould and CR46 chair rail divides the walls into a series of carefully proportioned sections.

Painted in a tonal finish, the panelling relies on depth and shadow rather than contrast. The result feels quietly architectural, giving the expansive walls definition without overwhelming the furniture, lighting or art.

The panel detailing continues into the kitchen, where IN31 inlay mould is applied to the cabinetry doors. This subtle repetition draws the joinery into the architectural language of the surrounding rooms.

A Classical Language, Repeated Throughout

A consistent moulding profile connects the home’s many rooms and openings. Intrim’s SK497 is used as both 185mm skirting and 115mm architraves, its generous proportions selected to hold their own against the height and volume of the interiors.

For the arched windows, Intrim produced custom curved architraves in the same profile, allowing one continuous detail to frame both square and curved openings. SB03 skirting blocks provide a precise transition at the doorways, grounding the taller architraves and neatly resolving their junction with the skirting boards.

Together, these details create continuity without demanding attention. Each room has its own purpose and atmosphere, but the same architectural language is carried throughout.

Tradition, Reframed

Breccia House demonstrates that classical detailing need not belong exclusively to a heritage interior. Here, wainscoting, generous skirting boards and curved architraves are paired with contemporary furniture, lighting and a restrained palette, creating rooms that feel established rather than overly formal.

While the scale of the project is exceptional, its central idea is widely applicable: select details that suit the proportions of the room, then repeat them with consistency. Whether expressed through a single panelled wall or matching skirting and architraves, the result is an interior with greater depth, rhythm and permanence.

Interior Design: Genevieve Wallis Studio

Architecture: Project Now Architects 

Build: Broadbent Building Co 

Photography: Tom Blachford