House of Meaning Podcast

House of Meaning
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In each episode, we’ll share practical advice, design insights, and real stories to help you plan and build your dream sustainable home with confidence.

  1. Sep 1

    Falling in Love With Heritage Homes: Alison Carlill and the Case for Restoration

    The heritage homes that still stand in 2026 are not a random sample of what was built. They are the best of the best. The ones built with enough craft, enough care, and enough quality to outlast all others built at that time. That's what you're looking at when you scroll through The Home of Heritage. Alison Carlill is the founder of The Home of Heritage, Australia's only dedicated platform for heritage properties for sale and historic stays. She joins Simon on House of Meaning to talk about what makes these homes so extraordinary, why our connection to them runs so much deeper than aesthetics, and what Australia stands to lose every time one disappears. The conversation covers what draws people to heritage homes and what they're chasing that a new build simply cannot offer. They explore the concept of place attachment, the craftsmanship of a century-old home and why it sits in a different category from almost anything built today, and what Alison is building next on the platform. Simon draws a direct line between the quality standard of the homes Alison celebrates and the standard SHM holds itself to in every renovation and new home it takes on. Alison also answers the question Simon asks every guest: the home she carries with her. Her answer involves a 1920s bungalow, a fireplace that was once a kitchen, and a man in his eighties who came back to tell them what life had been like inside those walls. You'll learn: Why the heritage homes that have survived are the finest examples of what was built, and what that quality meansWhat Alison looks for when curating The Home of Heritage, and what gets rejectedWhy our connection to old homes is emotional, not just aestheticWhat Australia stands to lose as heritage continues to disappear from our citiesWhat "home" really means to someone who has immersed herself in hundreds of Australia's finest historic propertiesWho it's for: Anyone who has ever felt the pull of an old house, buyers considering a heritage property, and anyone who believes the homes we build today should be worth keeping for the next hundred and fifty years. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  2. Aug 18

    Why You Should NOT Build A Barely Legal Home

    Walk into most Melbourne homes on a two-degree July morning and you will feel the problem immediately. A bit of plasterboard. A timber stud. Maybe some weatherboards on the outside. That's what separates an Australian family from the cold. As Simon puts it in this episode: a glorified tent. Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, has spent over a decade walking into homes across Melbourne. In this solo episode, he makes the case that Australia's "don't overcapitalise" culture was designed for property investors, not for families building a home they intend to live in for 30 years. We have borrowed investor logic and applied it to the most important decision of our lives. The result is homes that make us uncomfortable, cost a fortune to run, and slowly compromise our health. Simon traces where the overcapitalise framing comes from, why it has no useful application to owner occupied family homes on a long time horizon, and why building fabric is the non negotiable place to spend well. He also addresses the NCC 7 star minimum energy-efficiency requirement and why building to the legal floor today means building below tomorrow's standard, with the code expected to rise to eight stars by 2031 and 2032. The episode closes with a reframe that lands the whole argument. Resale value is not the goal. It is the consequence of a home built well. You'll learn: Why the "don't overcapitalise" rule was built for investors and why it fails families on a 30 year time horizonWhat Simon means when he calls most Melbourne homes glorified tentsWhy a home is a consumption product and what that changes about how you buildHow a weather resistant barrier actually works and why cladding alone is not enoughWhy 7 stars is the legal minimum, not a standard worth building toWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners planning to build or renovate a family home they intend to keep for decades, and anyone who has been told not to overcapitalise and quietly wondered if that advice actually makes sense. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  3. Aug 4

    Interior Design Mistakes That Stop Your House Feeling Like A Home, with Petrina Turner

    They listed the house six months after renovating it, and of all the rooms the photographer chose to lead with, it was the one everybody had warned them was too bold. A tealy green vanity, marble Ming green fan tiles, wall to wall. It sold the house, because people could feel the quality.  In this episode of House of Meaning, Simon Clark sits down with Petrina Turner of Petrina Turner Design, an accredited interior designer and educator with thirty years behind her. Petrina names the mistake she sees again and again: people design their homes for a stranger, the future buyer who may or may not turn up in five years, instead of for the people actually living there. That single habit is what stops a house ever feeling like home. Petrina started not as a decorator but as a draftsperson, and that technical brain still underpins everything she does, but her real subject is why colour is an emotional tool, not decoration. Petrina explains why even neutral isn't neutral, how every white paint shifts with the light and the direction a room faces, and why she starts a project with your favourite holiday and your core memories instead of a spec sheet of sinks and ovens. We hear how she found the "DNA" of a heritage home in its raw stud walls and soot-stained chimney bricks, why a bold tealy green bathroom was the room that sold a house, and how her volunteer work with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre showed her that colour and design are really about dignity. You'll learn: The one mistake that stops a house ever feeling like home, and what to do insteadHow to start a renovation from your own story and memories rather than paint charts and tick boxesWhy even neutral paint carries an undertone, and how light and orientation change it hour to hourHow texture and material can do the heavy lifting when you're not ready to commit to colourWhy biophilic design, bringing nature indoors, measurably supports wellbeing and how to apply it at homeWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners planning a renovation, extension or forever home who want a space that feels like them rather than a safe resale box, plus anyone curious about the psychology and craft behind great interior design. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697. Explore Petrina's work at https://www.petrinaturnerdesign.com.au/

  4. Jul 21

    Renovation Optimism Is Costing Melbourne Homeowners Years of Their Lives

    Seven years from first sketch to building contract. Two builder quotes on the same design, one at $900,000 and one at $1.8 million. A home designed, approved through council, and quietly shelved because it came back three times over budget. These are not rare stories. They are the renovation industry's default setting. In this episode, Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, names the thing that derails more renovation projects than bad builders or bad luck: renovation optimism. The belief that the lower quote is probably right. That the design will come in on budget. That things will work out. Simon opens with three real client stories: a Brunswick terrace that took seven years to reach a building contract, multiple enquiries returning after years working with designers and architects, and a homeowner who proceeded through town planning on the strength of the cheaper of two wildly different quotes. He unpacks why the building industry's fragmented structure makes optimism not just understandable but almost inevitable: designers working in silos, builders pricing in isolation, and nobody accountable for the gap between the two. He then leaves listeners with three questions to ask any professional before engaging them:  When will you get a real price from a builder who does this type of work?Who is accountable if the design comes back over budget (including what the Architects Institute of Australia's standard agreement actually says about cost overruns)?What past clients have to say about the process (you're about to embark on) rather than the finished product?You'll learn: Why getting a real builder's price at concept design rather than after town planning can save hundreds of thousands of dollarsHow the standard Architects Institute of Australia client agreement handles cost overruns, and why most homeowners sign it without reading itWhy the lowest building quote is almost never the right oneWhat early contractor involvement means and why it changes the renovation experienceHow to speak with past clients in a way that surfaces genuinely useful information about a builder or architect's processWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners, inner-city property buyers, anyone who has saved a heritage terrace on realestate.com.au and wondered about its story, and anyone who has ever stood outside an old Melbourne home and felt something they could not quite explain. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  5. Jul 7

    Melbourne Heritage Homes: The Mysteries They Hold with Elio Sarpi

    Most Melburnians have a saved search on realestate.com.au they will never act on. A terrace in Fitzroy. A cottage in West Melbourne. A Victorian on a street they drove down once and have not forgotten since. We do not just look at houses in this city. We fall in love with them. In this episode of House of Meaning, Simon sits down with Elio Sarpi, the North Melbourne resident behind one of Melbourne's most quietly remarkable Instagram accounts: Houses of North and West Melbourne. With over 30,000 followers, Elio has spent five years uncovering what is actually inside those houses Melburnians dream about. Not the floorplans. Not the facades. The lives of ordinary people from the 1800-1900’s. Simon and Elio explore what Melbourne's Victorian terraces tell us about the identity of the city we live in today. They move through how domestic life actually worked inside these homes, when front rooms doubled as grocers and boarding houses, when Italian and Greek families reshaped the way spaces were used, and when a single North Melbourne cottage held far more lives than most of us could imagine. The conversation turns to what Melbourne risks losing as the city grows and builds over its own history, and what it means to feel a personal responsibility to the people whose stories may otherwise disappear entirely. You'll learn: Why Melbourne's heritage homes carry stories the official heritage register never capturesHow Elio traces a family's full history from a single photograph of a front doorWhat immigration and commerce did to the way North and West Melbourne terraces were actually lived inWhat Melbourne stands to lose when heritage homes are demolished or altered beyond recognitionWhy the houses Melburnians romanticise hold meaning that goes far deeper than architectureWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners, inner-city property buyers, anyone who has saved a heritage terrace on realestate.com.au and wondered about its story, and anyone who has ever stood outside an old Melbourne home and felt something they could not quite explain. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697. Follow Elio's work on Instagram: @housesofnorthandwestmelbourne

  6. Jun 23

    Why Australian Homes Are So Cold in Winter (And What to Do About It in 2026)

    Walk into an unrenovated Melbourne home on a winter's morning and the heating's running flat out while you're still wearing two jumpers. The problem isn't the weather. It's the building. And it's the same story right across Australia. In this episode, Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, breaks down why Australian homes are so cold in winter and exactly what to do about it. From the big stuff to the small stuff people overlook. Australia's housing stock is old, leaky, and built for cross-ventilation in summer. Most homes have single brick or weatherboard walls with no insulation, suspended timber floors over an uninsulated subfloor, and gaps around every skirting, cornice, and architrave you've ever walked past. You're not just losing heat. You're losing money every single minute the heater is on. Simon walks through the full hierarchy of fixes: air sealing first (the single biggest bang for your buck in an existing home), ceiling and underfloor insulation, window coverings and glazing upgrades, and how to use north-facing glass to capture free solar gain through winter. He covers zoning — heating where you actually live, not the whole house — and explains why a reverse cycle split system is almost always more efficient than ducted gas for a leaky older home. You'll learn: Why air sealing is the first thing to fix in an existing home, and where the biggest draughts actually hideHow ceiling and underfloor insulation change the thermal performance of a suspended floor homeWhy zoning matters more than heater size in an older homeHow passive solar gain through north-facing windows can do a lot of the heavy lifting in winterThe small wins — door snakes, lined curtains, rugs, ceiling fans on reverse — that genuinely move the needleWho it's for: Homeowners across Australia in older or unrenovated homes who want to be warmer this winter without running the heater all day, and anyone planning a Melbourne renovation who wants to understand the building fabric fundamentals before they start. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

  7. Jun 9

    Rethinking Architecture with Izzie White: Building Sustainable Homes and Communities That Last

    Most of us have never stopped to ask whether the city we live in makes our lives better. Not bigger. Better. It turns out that question sits at the heart of everything wrong, and everything still possible, about the way we build our cities and the homes within them. In this episode of House of Meaning, Simon sits down with Izzie White, Australia's most compelling architecture advocate for a conversation about sustainable homes, heritage, community and what we've quietly stopped expecting from the places we call home.  Izzie has never held an architect's licence. What she does have is tens of thousands of people on social media following her through Melbourne's streets, learning to see streets and buildings in a totally new way. They cover what architecture really is, what Australian cities reveal about who we are as a country, and how to evaluate good design and architecture. The conversation moves into territory that rarely gets discussed: the slow erosion of community in Australian cities, the places in Scandinavia and the UK where community has been deliberately designed in through alternative housing models, and whether Australians have simply accepted a version of home that may not be adaptable to our growing cities. You'll learn: Why sustainable homes and thoughtful architecture are inseparable from the communities they sit withinWhat a city that takes design seriously actually looks and feels like compared to one that doesn'tWhat countries in Northern Europe are doing to re-engage communities and create better places to live. Why Melbourne and Sydney are at a genuine turning point and what that means for the homes and neighbourhoods being built right now.What great architecture does to the people inside it that they often can't name or explainWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners, architects, planners, urban designers and anyone who cares about building homes and communities that are worth living in for generations. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697. Izzie can be found at: https://www.izziewhite.com/ Instagram TikTok

  8. May 26

    What Separates a Great Home From a Good One: 7 Design Decisions

    Walk into some homes and everything just feels right. The light lands where it should. The kitchen is calm. There's a corner that draws you in without announcing itself. Walk into the one next door, same suburb, similar size, and something's off. You can't name it. But you feel it. That difference almost never comes down to finishes. It comes down to decisions made long before construction started. In this episode, Simon Clark, founder of Sustainable Homes Melbourne, walks through seven design ideas that quietly determine how a home feels to live in every day. These aren't trends or styling tips. They're the architectural decisions behind homes that hold up: spatially, emotionally, and practically. Simon covers how connecting the kitchen to a working laundry creates a hidden service zone that gives mess somewhere to live. How a properly defined entry choreographs your arrival, so the house begins filtering the day before it reaches your living space. Why human-sized rooms, including window seats, study nooks, and generous island benches, deliver more comfort than adding square metres ever could. How widened hallways designed to hold bookshelves, study zones, and winter sun turn expensive circulation space into real living space. Why storage integrated into joinery and structure prevents clutter from forming in the first place. How a courtyard or light well solves airflow, daylight, and privacy on tight Melbourne sites. And how ceiling height variation shapes intimacy, acoustics, and the way a home holds you differently from room to room. At Sustainable Homes Melbourne, none of these ideas are considered upgrades. They're baseline. You'll learn: Why connecting the kitchen to the laundry creates a hidden service zone that restores calm to everyday lifeHow a defined entry with compression, release, and everyday amenity changes what it feels like to come homeWhat human-scaled rooms actually deliver and why they consistently outperform simply building biggerHow dual-purpose circulation turns hallways from a cost into a genuine living assetWhy storage designed into structure prevents clutter from appearing in the first placeWhat a courtyard or light well achieves for light, airflow, and privacy that no open-plan layout can replicateHow ceiling height variation creates intimacy, improves acoustics, and makes a home feel crafted rather than simply builtWho it's for: Melbourne homeowners planning a renovation, extension, or new custom sustainable home, and anyone who has ever walked into a home that felt right and wanted to understand exactly why. If you'd like to know more, please reach out to Sustainable Homes Melbourne or call us on 1800 683 697.

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About

In each episode, we’ll share practical advice, design insights, and real stories to help you plan and build your dream sustainable home with confidence.

Information

  • Creator
    House of Meaning
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 House of Meaning Podcast
  • Show Website
    House of Meaning Podcast