All the Home's a Stage

Anchoring the Housemuseum’s music room is the mural YOU’VEALWAYSWANTEDTOBEBLACK (white friend), a 2006 piece by artist Brook Andrew. The red staircase leads to the bedrooms and additional gallery space on the second floor.

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In the open-plan kitchen, dining, and living area, the family cohabitates comfortably with their art. The wooden furniture was custom built for the space by the Melbourne designers Xilo.

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The exterior of the Housemuseum has something of a Darth Vader look to it, without directly mimicking the brutalism that exemplified much of Melbourne’s modernist architecture of the 1960s. The street names that form the corner on which it sits—Cotham and Florence—are marked out in the chocolate-brown brickwork fence.

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The “white cube” gallery space off the dining area displays work by contemporary Australian artists including Louise Forthun and Patricia Piccinini. Clerestory windows offer glimpses into the second-floor library and private bedrooms.

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The entire family makes good use of the music room, where they hold public and private Sunday concerts with local and international musicians.

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The Lyons’ younger daughter practices cello in her bedroom, which overlooks the central gallery space.

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