Renovations · Extensions · KitchensMelbourne's east · since 2011

Homes that age like good timber.

A small building company for period homes in Melbourne's east. The person who quotes your job is the one on site every day, until it's finished.

See the work Or call 0491 570 156

Timber-clad two-storey rear extension on a 1920s bungalow, with a Japanese maple in golden light

Plate 01Two-storey rear addition, Surrey HillsSpotted gum cladding, steel-framed doors2025

homes a year at most. Never more than three on the go at once.

from$85k

for a kitchen and living renovation, fixed price.

from$450k

for a rear extension, drawings and permits included.

One

builder on your site every day. Registered building practitioner.

The studioII

Blackbutt cabinet door with a slim brass handle and a ceramic jug on a stone bench — Fig. 2Blackbutt joinery, brass pull. Balwyn.2023

We take on six homes a year at most, not sixty. That's how the details stay right: the joins, the light, the way a door closes behind you.

Will Halden is a carpenter by trade. Mei Reid ran sites for one of Melbourne's bigger builders for twelve years, and left because the jobs got too big to care about. In 2011 they started building the way they'd want their own house built.

We work mostly on Californian bungalows, Edwardian villas and the odd post-war brick home. We keep what's good about the old house, and make the new part feel like it was always meant to be there.

Will Halden & Mei ReidDirectors · Registered building practitioners

Selected projects, 2023 to 2025III

Six homes, six families.

Every project here was run by Will or Mei from first visit to handover. Most started with a phone call much like yours.

Open-plan kitchen with oak joinery, a limestone island, terracotta floor tiles and a skylight — 02CamberwellKitchen and living, oak and limestone2025

Double-height room with stripes of skylight light, an olive tree and a timber bench — 03KewRear extension, skylit2024

A hand on the freshly sanded corner of a timber window frame — 04HawthornOriginal sashes, restored2024

Restored Edwardian red-brick villa with a white picket fence, lavender and street trees — 05CanterburyEdwardian villa, restored and extended2023

Most of our homes were built between 1890 and 1940. We match the old bricks, the old profiles and the old proportions, so you can't quite tell where the new part begins.

Index of worksWeeks on site · Year

Surrey Hills

Two-storey rear addition38 weeks2025

Camberwell

Kitchen and living14 weeks2025

Kew

Rear extension, skylit30 weeks2024

Hawthorn

Timber windows and front rooms9 weeks2024

Canterbury

Edwardian villa, restored34 weeks2023

Balwyn

Blackbutt kitchen joinery12 weeks2023

The processIV

How a project runs.

Four stages, the same for a kitchen or a second storey. You always know which one you're in, what it costs and who to ring.

The builder going through floor plans with a homeowner at a timber kitchen table — iGoing through the plans at the kitchen table, Kew

The builder checking a level against fresh timber framing in late sun — iiiChecking the frame before the Friday update, Surrey Hills

Site visit and a straight answer

We walk the house with you, ask how you live in it, and tell you what's possible for your budget. If it isn't, we say so.

Week one

Fixed-price contract

Drawings, permits and engineering, then one price for the whole job. No provisional sums hiding the hard parts.

Two to six months

iii

One builder on site

The same face every morning, and a Friday photo update so you can watch the week's work from your desk.

Six weeks to ten months

Handover, then back in six months

A clean house and a folder of warranties. Six months on, we come back to fix anything that's settled or stuck.

Month six

In their wordsV

They told us what it would cost and how long it'd take. Both turned out to be true.

Anna and Raj · Kitchen and living, Camberwell

“Will rang the night before every concrete pour to warn us the trucks were coming. Our neighbours still ask after him.”

Sophie · Villa restoration, Canterbury

“Mei found rot in the old stumps before we'd signed anything, and priced it in. No nasty letter halfway through.”

Claire · Rear extension, Kew

“The Friday photos were the best part. We watched our kitchen go in from the other side of town.”

Lucy and Ben · Joinery, Balwyn

What it costs, and where we workVI

Type of work	Guide price	Time on site
Kitchen and living	from$85k	10 to 14 weeks
Bathroom	from$55k	6 to 8 weeks
Single-storey rear extension	from$450k	5 to 7 months
Two-storey addition	from$680k	7 to 10 months
Period home restoration	By quote	Varies

Guide prices include GST, permits and coordinating your drawings. You get a firm, fixed price after the site visit, before you commit to anything.

Questions we hear at the kitchen table

Do we need an architect first?

Not always. For kitchens and most single-storey work, we bring in a building designer we've worked with for years. For bigger additions, we're happy to work with your architect, or suggest one.

Is the price really fixed?

Yes. The contract price only changes if you change the design. If we find something hidden, like rotten stumps, we tell you before we sign, not halfway through.

When could you start?

We're booking builds for mid-2027. Site visits and design happen in the meantime, so the wait is shorter than it sounds.

Suburbs we build in

Surrey Hills¹² Camberwell⁹ Kew⁸ Balwyn⁷ Canterbury⁶ Hawthorn⁵ Mont Albert⁴ Box Hill³

Small numbers: homes we've built there since 2011. Just outside these? Ring and ask.