# @dwellmagazine on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddub6zQkfw6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70811309-dwellmagazine-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/85d5067fa5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-25T21:34:09.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dwell (@dwellmagazine) — https://gondola.cc/dwellmagazine

## Caption

Every once in a while, we like to take a look back at past issues of Dwell to remember the special spaces we’ve been lucky enough to publish, including this Melbourne home that graced the cover of our March 2009 issue.
–
There aren’t many homes out there quite like it. Architect-sculptor double act Cat and Michael’s primary home in Melbourne is a funky, split-level cube wrapped in an extraordinary printed facade. “We wanted to start from scratch so it’s all totally personalized,” Michael told us about 17 years ago. “When we found the land, we actually liked the grungy nature of it in the back of a laneway. It was small, affordable, and instantly an architectural challenge.” Perhaps the biggest design hurdle was stretching the square footage to accommodate four people, an outdoor space, and an office for the couple’s practice, bellemo_and_cat. But thanks to a smart layout, the couple found a comfortable solution. “We’ve got a garage between the office space and the home, and we’ve got two separate doors,” Michael told us. “It’s like Get Smart. You go through one door, close it, then you go through the other door, and then you’re in the office. Just having the garage in between gives you a buffer, from an acoustic point of view and the physical distance.” Inverting the floorplan, so that living areas are on the upper floors, also adds to the airiness of the home and sense of remove from the surrounding concrete. In the end, it’s about everything they wanted: “We’ve arranged the house just how we like it, and it’s the warmest, lightest house I’ve ever lived in,” Michael confirmed. “You know, we could have bought an amazing painting, but we chose to make our own artwork of the whole building instead.” #Dwellarchives
–
Photos by prueruscoe
Story by karenpakula

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 740
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 5

## Tags

dwellarchives

---
Copyright (c) Gondola