Newtown period home renovation wins top Master Builders award

Victorian Built won the MBV Regional Residential Builder of the Year (Western) for it’s Aberdeen-Newtown project.

A contemporary renovation of a Federation-era home in Newtown has taken out top honours at the region’s 2025 Master Builders Victoria awards.

Family-run Point Lonsdale company Victorian Built was named Residential Builder of the Year (Western region) for its stellar transformation of the 120-year-old house.

The project meticulously restored the original brick residence to its former grandeur, while adding a modern open-plan rear extension packed with custom, high-performance features.

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The rear extension paves the way for indoor-outdoor living.

The curved feature walls won over the judges.

Curved walls, archways and bespoke cornices that blended period and contemporary style were among details that impressed MBV judges.

Sustainability is embedded in the renovation through a fully sealed building envelope, a Zehnder Heat Recovery System for improved air quality and energy efficiency and a large solar system with a battery.

The Newtown project also won the best renovation/addition over $750,000 at the awards.

Master Builders Victoria Regional Building Awards chief judge Frank Pavan said all the internal finishes were well integrated between the home’s old and new sections.

“The judges were particularly impressed with the extremely high quality of the finishes and workmanship throughout, including the internal and external period features to the front of the home and the amazing finishes to the rear modern portion of the home,” Mr Pavan said.

“The many internal rounded wall features were constructed perfectly.”

A curved island bench is the centrepiece of the kitchen.

Banquette seating features in the dining area.

He said the builder went to extraordinary lengths, adding detail to a timber sliding door to mimic the continuation of the skirting boards, and constructing the eaves to provided roof space ventilation for improved climate control.

Surfcoast Building took out top honours for the best renovation in the $500,000 to $750,000 category for its transformation of a tired, single-storey Torquay home.

Subfloor issues were uncovered as the house was stripped back to bare studs, requiring a structural rethink and revised engineering before a second storey clad in timber battens was added.

Master Builders Victoria chief executive Michaela Lihou said the quality of the entries across the board demonstrated the regional building industry’s commitment to excellence.

The main bedroom suite has a built-in window seat.

An arched doorway leads to the ensuite bathroom.

“There are some stunning projects being delivered right across regional Victoria and, as we’ve witnessed in these Western region awards, yet again our industry continues to rise to the challenges it encounters and raise the bar even higher,” Ms Lihou said.

Other Western region award winners in the custom homes categories include Hudson Ridge Builders, Doherty Building Group and Spicer Building.

Larkin & Drought Builders won the best custom home over $2m for a luxury family home in Barwon Heads featuring rammed earth walls and curved timber batten cladding.

As overall winner Victorian Built will go on to complete at the Victorian Excellence in Housing Award at Crown Palladium on October 10.

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