City Living Resident Spotlight—Penny and Tony
“The art in Penny and Tony’s house is special. Boyds and Arkleys go toe-to-toe with pieces from Storia and Robinson. Since getting married, Penny and Tony have given themselves a piece of art each anniversary and their living room is a veritable ark of Australia’s best artists. So much so, focusing on the project at hand—the townhouse surrounding the art—is difficult.
Penny and Tony are doctors—both specialists—and they’re also both accomplished photographers. Tony won Australian Photographer of the Year in 2019 for his stark series ‘Winter in Biei, Japan’, described by the judges as “a tribute to the simple elegance inherent in Japanese culture”. It’s a surreal, near monochromatic depiction of a snow-covered Japanese landscape.”
“Penny and Tony’s home is bigger than most Neometro projects. 41 Darling Street is a four-storey townhouse, one of a pair, in a strong brutalist language. It has a bunker-like exterior, a garage that dips down and into a subterranean hideaway, and an abundance of plants and trees that work with the facade’s layers of textured concrete.Inside, the raw concrete walls feel sculptural and substantial—like walking through an oversized Donald Judd piece in Marfa. The cool grey of the interior lets their art collection glow but would work equally well on its own as a minimalist sanctuary.
There’s nothing here that looks worn or used, nor is it too clean or crisp. Like the perfect artwork, the home is composed, not contrived, and it’s not trying too hard.
“It doesn’t date,” says Penny of the simplicity of the house. “We’ve been here for 12 years, and we just freshen up the furniture and the floor coverings.” "The art doesn’t hurt, either.”
— City Living: Neometro Residents and Works (Uro Publications, 2025)
Since 1985, Neometro has been building design-focused homes that enhance everyday urban living. In the new book City Living, the long-standing residents of some of these buildings open their doors to readers, to share their stories of life in high density. Featuring richly detailed photography of each resident’s home, City Living gives readers an intimate insight into a mode of dwelling that, handled thoughtfully, is fast becoming the preference of many in Australia.
Click here to read more about the book, or to purchase your copy now.