Fingal Head House restores a century-old beach cottage, revealing layers of original detailing, while a new contemporary extension allows multiple generations to gather.

Fingal Head House is all about family. The homeowners, Kaz and Rhys moved up from Sydney, purchasing a weatherboard cottage by the beach. Reportedly the original Fingal post office, although unverified, the cottage was at some point in its history relocated to its current site where it weathered a century beside the sea. With such unique heritage, Kaz and Rhys wanted to keep the essence of the old home as much as possible.

While renovating was always the intention, adding a new build wasn’t what they originally had in mind. However, partway through the design process with Seven Mile Architects, the team discovered an existing extension had never gone through council, and so it made sense to remove it and start fresh. A new build would allow for a more functional response, incorporating a bedroom, bathrooms, a garage and functional spaces, with living areas that flow to a new outdoor room for gathering. The brief settled into one generous idea: a grandparents’ home, and a place the whole family could come and stay.

Berecon approached the old house by looking for value in what was there before immediately going for anything new. This meant keeping original fabric wherever it made sense, repairing rather than replacing, and finding plenty of character in the process. The clearest example runs right through the home. Opening up the cottage revealed a warren of small, dark rooms, and hidden behind the cladding of the old wrap-around verandah was the original hardwood cross-bracing that once held the structure square.

Seven Mile Architects and Berecon chose to strip back the panelling and keep the bracing as a feature, letting it read through the living room, kitchen and main bedroom. It allows the bones of the cottage to be a feature – a record of how the house was first made, and now a detail that is part of its architectural language. Similarly, the original VJ boarding was also kept and celebrated.

For Berecon, the craft lies in knowing which details are worth keeping, and for Fingal Head House, the original fabric honours the embodied history of a 110-year-old home.

With the heritage shell preserved, the detailing becomes a careful conversation between old and new – matching the cottage’s age and warmth with a contemporary form. Like many of Berecon’s projects, the approach focuses on introducing durable, everyday materials and using them in an interesting way: honest finishes that earn their place, intended to be lived with.

The design takes its cues from the coast. Seven Mile Architects references the fibro cement and timber battens of the older beach shacks nearby, giving the new addition a contemporary skin that still belongs to its context. Natural light shapes the plan throughout, with filtered light drawn into the key living spaces and, from the upper floor, glimpses of the water beyond the neighbours’ rooftops. Inside, the original double-hung windows are Rhys’s favourite thing in the house. Berecon kept them throughout, removing only the few that had to make way for the new layout. The fittings were similarly chosen to age gracefully – brass tapware and distinct door handles intended to patina well with time.

Collaboration is what made Fingal Head House come together. For much of the project, Kaz and Rhys managed the build from Sydney, relying on clear, constant communication with Berecon to make decisions from afar.

As the first project between Seven Mile Architects and Berecon, they met on site several times before any design work began. This meant they could dissect the existing cottage and work through complex level changes and stormwater issues, including a tank beneath the house that kept flooding – all of which ensured the build could run smoothly. Seven Mile Architects provided thorough documentation before handing over to the build team to execute on site with minimal input. The architects attest that the concept has been carried right through to handover, unchanged from what was first designed.

Berecon’s expertise guided the clients through decisions on the ground: Kaz and Rhys even describe Jeremy and Sam as the “brains trust”, offering ideas and solutions as they arose. Old houses often keep throwing up surprises, and this one wasn’t any different. But Berecon staged the work to make the project run smoothly, finishing the main house first, then rebuilding the other side. Fingal Head House is now filled with family and guests – a loft for visitors, a barbecue for gathering, and the Tweed River beyond, with the restored cottage and its distinctive sibling working side-by-side.