How Tara turned a ruined shop into a soulful family home

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From a burnt, graffiti-addled eyesore to a soulful sanctuary that the neighbourhood is proud of, this renovation was not for the faint of heart.

Tara Johns and Joe Ferrara bought the Hurlstone Park former shop and residence in 2022 when it was in a state of ruin. It had been empty for a decade, divided into two flats and partially fire-damaged. They saw past the cracks, crumbling bricks, collapsed ceilings and missing floors at 5 Hampden Street.

Tara Johns has turned a former shopfront into a sanctuary.

“Even though it was so derelict and dilapidated, I could see it was a space that could be a sanctuary,” Johns says. “There were trees everywhere – a big jacaranda and gums – so even though it is an inner-city block, it looked like it went on forever. That was really important, because that’s what I wanted to focus on – a calm place to escape to.”

That vision realised, the couple are downsizing. The five-bedroom house in Sydney’s inner west is on the market, with a November 1 auction guide of $3 million to $3.3 million.

Johns, a painter and photographer, and Ferrara, a graphic designer and former art director of Rolling Stone magazine, have done other renovations. However, they could not have fathomed the task in Hampden St, which took four years.

The couple engaged 9one6 Design Studio and were hands-on in the process. Ferrara is adept at restorations, including of his 1968 Mini Cooper, and relished the challenge.

The heritage-protected shopfront and the first three rooms were retained and restored. The rest – a new extension and upper level, nestled in the tree tops – now forms a light-filled space with Japanese, Scandi and mid-century influences.

Johns and Ferrara say moving in was like a tree-change, but only 12 kilometres from the CBD.

The merge of old and new is seamless, and the textual materials and mellow tones, such as cream bricks, burnished concrete, travertine and Victorian ash timber, will marry with the environment over time.

“We wanted it to all blend in,” Ferrara said. “Tara has done a really good job of the colour choices, and as this house grows, it’ll blend in even more. We haven’t used any black, or any of the colours that are around at the moment.”

Mellow tones were used instead of black.

Johns adds: “It’s not overdone and over polished. It’s very raw and natural.”

They paid particular attention to the shopfront. Research revealed it once sold lollies, bread and milk, was a former broadcasting station, and a headquarters for a local Lithuanian newspaper. It would become a studio for Johns.

“Our goal was really to restore the spirit of that front, as it is part of the community,” she says.

The former shopfront after its renovation.

The shop was largely closed to the street by a brick wall and a small, aluminum-framed window. This was replaced by French doors, creating an open and welcoming presence. The steps are laid with colourful tiles sourced from Sicily during a holiday – an example of the lengths the couple have gone to.

The profile of the extension has been kept intentionally low, so the shop is the predominant structure. This was designed to meet council requirements, architect Bruno Posada said.

Posada, senior architect at 9one6 Design Studio, and studio director Scott Nicholson, said they rarely encounter a project like it.

“We get a lot of our work in the inner west, but not a lot of shopfronts,” Nicholson says. “It’s unique to Hurlstone Park as well, because it’s not on the high street – it’s on a regular suburban street.

“We were working with some great clients that had a real vision.”

Posada said connection to the outdoors was a priority in the brief.

“It was really important for the owners to create that relationship between interior and exterior areas,” he said. “The rear extension is open to the backyard, to receive natural light, like a frame.”

Agent Alex Mastoris of CobdenHayson Annandale says the sense of calm, and versatile layout, will attract a range of potential buyers. “The property strikes the perfect balance between design and real functionality,” he says.

Mastoris says Hurlstone Park is gaining traction in the market, in part due to the future Metro line train station.

“You can be in the city in 15 minutes, and yet have the tranquility of a parkland setting,” he says. “In the past 12 to 18 months, Hurlstone Park has started to gain more popularity from buyers who were once contemplating suburbs such as Marrickville or Dulwich Heights.”

In creating a home, Johns and Ferrara have given something back to the neighbourhood. “A lady from across the road came out of her house recently and thanked me,” Ferrara says. “I said, ‘Oh, what for?’ And she said, ‘Thank you, because now, when I walk out of my house, I see something beautiful instead of something ugly that used to be there’.”