The Aristides & Futurae Diamonds team recently hosted their Brisbane trunk show at Miss Midgley's Brisbane - see highlights from our trunk show here.
A historic house bought back to life by mother and daughter team - Lisa White and Izzie White. Nestled right in the action of James Street Brisbane, with local bakery's, restaurants and shopping it's an ideal staycation spot.
We chatted to the team about the design process and vision for this iconic guesthouse.
When did you purchase the property?
We purchased the historic property in January of 2020, right before the pandemic kicked off.
What was the passion and vision for the project? Can you share more about this journey?
Our vision for Miss Midgley’s was to utilise our architectural experience to restore a piece of Brisbane's heritage and share it with others. When we started this project, there wasn't a lot of variety in the Brisbane accommodation market, and we wanted to create a chic experience that was different to staying in a big hotel. Miss Midgley's offers a luxurious and unique experience in one of Brisbane's most historic stone houses, that allows you to really settle into the neighbourhood. With pet friendly apartments, a pool and your own car park, staying at Miss Midgley's lets you live the New Farm lifestyle.
How do you two work together as a mother & daughter?
We love this question; we think people expect us to grimace! But truthfully, we are each other's Yin and Yang. We both have a Master's in Architecture, and the design process was a very collaborative journey, but our real strengths are in the intergenerational differences of our experience. Lisa brings a lifetime of project and construction management experience, while Isabella runs the branding, social media and website. These differences are what gave us control over the creative direction of the entire project from start to finish. We adore working together, this project has allowed us not only the opportunity to work on a project we are passionate about, but to share all of these experiences together. It’s really special.
Any special moments in designing the interiors?
When designing the interiors, we loved that we could draw on inspiration from Annie Midgley (the original owner from 1906) herself, as she was an artist. Annie Midgley loved painting in oils and water colours as well as working with wood, so we tried to use that as inspiration when choosing our interiors as an ode to her. We also wanted to ensure that the interiors were as sustainable and ethically sourced as possible, which was always a very important factor in our design process. Sourcing products and materials that met our standards was an exciting challenge.
Any challenges in the development?
Amidst the many challenges posed by the pandemic and the ensuing supply chain crisis, the renovation project was of course a challenge. When dealing with heritage buildings, there are always surprises as you begin to peel back layers of the building. We were very agile on site, always changing and redesigning things to deal with the space left over from the heritage building.
Our builders were good sport about it and were equally as agile to problem solve on site as opposed to relying on architectural drawings. We sought to finish within a timeline, and we knew we would have to think outside the box to accomplish this.
Our strategy of purchasing Australian products was a game-changer for fast tracking the process. This was efficient, and also allowed us to support Australian businesses which was really important to us and something we feel a lot of pride in. We felt as though the challenges allowed us to have a positive impact on the community and the environment, as well as facing the difficulties head on.
Any future plans you can share with us?
Right now, Miss Midgley’s is only one year old, so we’re really just focusing on growing the business! We are mostly focused on fostering our current client base and taking every moment as it comes while we have fun with this current project while staying true to our values.
We want to continue this incredible journey and share this very special place with as many people as possible!
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Follow @lisawhite63 and @izziewhitecreative