Not every builder is equipped to work on a character filled older home, and it's worth knowing the difference before you commit. Older homes across Melbourne's eastern suburbs come with timber framing, solid brick walls, heritage overlays, and layouts that were never designed with modern living in mind. The right renovation and extension builders in Melbourne will know how to work with all of that, and approach your home very differently from a standard new build.
A home with character isn't just older. It usually has original features worth keeping, materials that are no longer standard, and sometimes a council overlay that shapes what you can and can't change. Builders who focus on new builds or volume projects often aren't set up for this kind of nuance, and it shows in the final result. It's one of the main reasons house renovations in Melbourne's older suburbs need more planning than a modern home.
Before you talk to any builder, it helps to know whether a heritage overlay applies to your property. You can check this with a free Planning Property Report from the Victorian Government. The report lists the zones and overlays for any Victorian address and shows whether the property is on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Craft Built Homes has spent over 13 years as home builders across Melbourne's eastern suburbs, working in Kew, Balwyn, Hawthorn, Surrey Hills, Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte. That experience means we've worked through the surprises a character filled home renovation tends to throw up, from unexpected structural issues to heritage requirements that change what a design can include.
When you own a character filled home, you're not just choosing a builder to complete a project. You're trusting someone to work carefully with a home that often can't be easily replaced if something goes wrong. A few things separate a builder worth that trust from one that isn't:
These aren't small details. They're the difference between a renovation that respects what made your home worth keeping and one that strips it of its character in the process.
Every renovation or extension we take on starts with understanding what makes the property worth preserving. We assess the existing structure, talk through which council overlays apply, and work out where a design can extend or open up the home without compromising its character.
As home renovation builders in Melbourne, we handle everything from full layout reworks to smaller upgrades that fix how a home functions day to day. When you need more space, our home extension builders in Melbourne plan additions that sit comfortably alongside the original home. That includes a double storey extension in Melbourne where a single-level addition won't give you enough room. If you're working with a tighter block, our guide to small home extensions in Melbourne covers what's possible.
As an HIA Victoria award holder, we've built a reputation on getting the finish right, not just the structure.
We’re familiar with and use many different materials for both modern and period projects. On character homes that usually means Victorian ash timber, spotted gum lining boards, baltic pine weatherboards and rendered brick, chosen to sit alongside what’s already there rather than compete with it.
On contemporary extensions and new builds we work with Colorbond steel cladding, the James Hardie Scyon range including Linea, Axon and Stria, Cemintel Barestone fibre cement panels and Weathertex timber boards. Plenty of these suit a character home as well, which is often how a modern rear extension ends up reading as deliberate rather than bolted on. You can see how this comes together in our recent projects.
Yes, if your home falls within a heritage overlay. Under a heritage overlay you normally need a planning permit from council to demolish, build or externally alter a building. We work alongside your architect or draftsperson rather than doing the design ourselves, and overlay experience still matters at that stage. A builder who has worked under overlays can flag what councils tend to push back on, and what a drawing will actually cost to build, before it goes in for approval. Without that input, problems tend to surface during construction instead, when they are far more expensive to solve.
Yes. We combine both on a single project, reworking the existing layout while adding new space, so one team manages the whole scope and you don't have to coordinate two separate builders.
We work across Melbourne's eastern suburbs, including Kew, Balwyn, Hawthorn, Surrey Hills, Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte. See all the areas we cover on our locations page, or get in touch and we'll confirm whether your property falls within our service area.
No, and plenty of owners choose not to. A deliberate contrast between a period frontage and a clearly modern addition is a common approach on character homes, and it often sits better than an imitation of the original that never quite convinces. We have built a number of extensions this way, keeping the original street presentation intact while the new rear addition reads as contemporary. Matching the existing character is equally valid, and if your home is in a heritage overlay the council may have a view on anything visible from the street. We will talk both directions through before anything goes to design.
Most renovations and extensions need a building permit from a registered building surveyor, who may work for your council or privately. If a heritage overlay applies, you’ll usually need a planning permit from council as well. We can manage this process for you as part of our service.
