EST Living - Best of EST Series | Top Five Australian Homes
Year: 2025
We’re honored that Montana Jewel has been featured as one of the top five Best of EST 2025 Australian Home Series.
“We’re commencing our annual Best of est series for 2025 with the Australian homes that most resonated with our audience this year. From a Tasmanian bushland home to a reimagined Victorian maisonette in Melbourne’s East, these five projects capture the diverse talent and topographies shaping Australian residential design.”
“History emanates within the walls of Montana Jewel”
Striking a balance that feels at once expansive and intimate, Montana Jewel by Melbourne-based multidisciplinary studio Homeroom Studio is a testament to thoughtful reinvention, preserving the home’s original framework while crafting a space that amplifies a feeling of authenticity and warmth.
Homeroom studio sought to retain the home’s original framework, and at the same time, reimagine the interiors to create an enduring space that celebrates the lifestyle and personal interests of those who call it home. “History emanates within the walls of Montana Jewel,” Homeroom Studio founder and director Romy Dankner says. “Drawing on our client’s affinity for collecting artifacts throughout their travels, the design reflects a deep reverence for traditional practices and heritage techniques, blending them seamlessly into a contemporary landscape,” she adds.
Finding a harmony between the interiors and architecture by ADDARC, the spatial reconfiguration centralises communal areas, responding intuitively to the personal rhythms of the client’s daily lives. “The design collaboration between ourselves and ADDARC led to a deeply considered reorganisation of the interior, strategically centralising the main living spaces to align with the client’s needs,” Dankner continues.
Words by Cardia Speziale
Her Design, Her Story Episode 010 - Romy Dankner
Year: 2025
With a measured approach and a dedication to excellence, Romy Dankner founded Homeroom Studio in pursuit of elevating experiences and enhancing lifestyles. Romy cultivated a team of experienced and determined professionals, each playing a pivotal role in the studio’s continued success. Drawing on our collective proficiency in residential, hospitality, and commercial design, our dynamic studio possesses a vast wealth of knowledge to address the diverse needs of our clients.
Just Adele - Mineral Alchemy Feature
Year: 2025
Mineral Alchemy, Curated by Homeroom Studio, the furniture selections for this beautiful Toorak residence were designed to echo the home’s refined material palette and calm architectural language — a project architecturally designed by Paul Conrad Architects.
We were honoured to collaborate with Romy Dankner and her team, on custom pieces that celebrate natural materiality and sculptural form.
The penthouse features our Terra Plinth in the hallway, Onda Side Table in Titanium Travertine, Bespoke Dolce Bedsides in all bedrooms, and a grande Custom Dining Table.
Yinjispace - Montana Jewel
Year: 2025
More of a reinvention than a renovation, Homeroom Studio retains the original structure of Montana Jewel while infusing the interiors with warmth and a contemporary sense of artful spaciousness.
Inspired by the homeowners’ collection of artefacts gathered from travels abroad, the designers developed a material and colour palette that speaks to both the home’s heritage and the curated pieces on display. In the living room, this translated to a leathered stone hearth with rust-coloured veining that wraps around the periphery of the space. The grandness of this gesture is tempered by the subdued tones of custom-finished warm brown veneer panelling and joinery, which introduce abundant shelving and surfaces for objets d’art throughout the residence.
The designers developed a material and colour palette that speaks to both the home’s heritage and the curated pieces on display. The grain of the veneer is varied to evoke a sense of history and character, its rich tones elevated by soft grey furnishings, off-white walls and pale timber floors that bring cohesion and balance. The furnishings are handcrafted modern pieces with a timeless, vintage aesthetic. In the living room, this is marked by an oversized Baxter rope armchair and the criss-crossed lines of a low-slung, glass-topped Mobilia coffee table.
Montana Jewel - Residential Interior Curation Shortlist at the IDEA 2025
Year: 2025
Category — Residential Interior Curation
We’re honoured to announce that Montana Jewel has been shortlisted at IDEA 2025 in the Residential Interior Curation Category.
“Handcrafted furniture and antique objects, sourced from local and international artisans, adorn the sleek timber and stone of this Melbourne home. Drawing on the client’s affinity for collecting artifacts throughout their travels, the design references traditional art practices and heritage techniques, blending them into a contemporary setting.”
Montana Jewel - Residential Single Shortlist at the IDEA 2025
Year: 2025
Category — Residential Single
We’re honoured to announce that Montana Jewel has been shortlisted at IDEA 2025 in the Residential Single Category.
“By honouring traditional craftmanship, evident in the intricate timber veneer detailing and custom bronze accents, the interior design of this Melbourne home adapts artisan techniques to a modern context. Bronze framed windows and honey toned sheer curtains welcome light into the space, illuminating delicate sculptural forms and deep timber recesses.”
The Local Project - Montana Jewel by Homeroom Studio
Year: 2025
More of a reinvention than a renovation, Homeroom Studio retains the original structure of Montana Jewel while infusing the interiors with warmth and a contemporary sense of artful spaciousness.
Inspired by the homeowners’ collection of artefacts gathered from travels abroad, the designers developed a material and colour palette that speaks to both the home’s heritage and the curated pieces on display. In the living room, this translated to a leathered stone hearth with rust-coloured veining that wraps around the periphery of the space. The grandness of this gesture is tempered by the subdued tones of custom-finished warm brown veneer panelling and joinery, which introduce abundant shelving and surfaces for objets d’art throughout the residence.
The designers developed a material and colour palette that speaks to both the home’s heritage and the curated pieces on display.
The grain of the veneer is varied to evoke a sense of history and character, its rich tones elevated by soft grey furnishings, off-white walls and pale timber floors that bring cohesion and balance. The furnishings are handcrafted modern pieces with a timeless, vintage aesthetic. In the living room, this is marked by an oversized Baxter rope armchair and the criss-crossed lines of a low-slung, glass-topped Mobilia coffee table.
The exterior of the home was reimagined by architects ADDARC, with an intricately tiled facade creating a retro-inspired look, further elevated by bronze-framed windows and graceful sheer curtains. A handcrafted brass handle greets visitors at the wide, pivoting front door, while industrial-style feature lights from Anchor Ceramics lend a rough-hewn texture and warm glow to the exterior walls.
Words by Camille Khouri
DEZEEN - Five cutting-edge kitchens that feature furnishings published on Dezeen Showroom
Year: 2025
Rook stool by Ross Gardam in Montana Jewel residence, Australia
Chess pieces informed the design of this bar stool, realised in a choice of three different species of solid timber by Australian designer Ross Gardam.
A pair of Rook stools in American walnut with a black powder coat base and foot rests flank the kitchen island in Montana Jewel – a house designed collaboratively between Melbourne architecture firm ADDARC and local interior design practice Homeroom Studio.
Natural wooden surfaces abound throughout the interior, where they are complimented by simple, minimalistic silhouettes. The stools were selected thanks to their sharing of these two characteristics.
Words by Alice Laycock
Photography by Timothy Kaye
