About This Project

Three storey – 5 bed – 4 bath – 2 Separate Zones

Client’s brief

Perched high on the hill this architecturally designed 3 bedroom home, with attached 2 bedroom granny flat, looks out to one of the most magnificent ocean and coastal views you are ever likely to encounter, and that’s just looking South and East. All North facing rooms also capture a beautiful mountain view – it’s a visual feast, and the number one reason our client decided to take the plunge and build on this tricky steep site.

Challenges of this build where mostly down to access, very restricted vehicle and truck movement and lack of storage for materials, plus multiple crane movements. Combine this with a challenging design, where upstairs and downstairs external walls didn’t line up and all measurements had to be worked back to the lift well as the fixed point of reference. This made our carpenter really double and triple check all his measurements. He claims he went through 3 tape measures during the course of this job.

Safety was paramount in this high wind area, being 3 storeys out of the ground at the back and on the side of the steep sand hill. Extensive scaffold was required to work at these heights. Trying to manoeuvre heavy cladding through the scaffold was awkward and challenging throughout the build.

The relocation and repurpose of close to 1000 tyres filled with sand to assist in stabilising the bank was recycling at its finest. The tyres were existing to the site and had been retaining the sand hill for many years prior. We had to bring another 300 or so used tyres, used to create the access way down at the subfloor level.

Modern in its presentation, this home is clad in a combination of CSR Cemintel Barestone, spotted gum vertical cladding and modern polished concrete blocks. Glass and stainless-steel balustrades wrap the many hard wood decks and add to the streamlined modern coastal aesthetic.

Designed over 3 levels, the home has 2 very distinct and separate zones, a 2 bedroom fully self- contained granny flat with no less than 2 private decks and private entrance. The main residence, utilises the entire upper floor for the master suite and open plan living area. The entry level contains a guest room, alfresco kitchen, 3rd bathroom and the entry foyer, which features hardwood stairs and lift access.

On approach a custom designed and built curved hardwood fence draws you into the front porch area where you are greeted by what at first looks like a timber wall, when actually at closer inspection the wall is a custom made oversized pivot door with the added feature of a smaller door within the big door.

The foyer feeds off into the different areas of the lower floor and a striking hardwood timber and glass staircase sits alongside a space age-looking passenger lift. These smart design choices by the clients age-proof this reverse living design, ensuring that they can live here for many years to come.

This home oozes quality and its very evident how much custom construction went into bringing this job to life – it’s a very well designed and executed home that is so perfect in its proportions and its designated use – everything fits as it should into the correct sized space and most of the furniture was built or designed and built in specifically for each room.

The main living areas are open plan with 9-foot ceilings and spotted gum floors with sound deadening acoustic matting under. If you can tear yourself away from the view you can curl up in front of the TV or gaze into the gas fireplace. A more private sunroom area off the bedroom wing also offers an alternate living space.

What at first appears to be a modest sized kitchen is packed with cutting edge technology and smart design, European integrated appliances – incredibly sleek and full of storage. It is an entertainer’s delight with a bifold servery window and French doors that lead to the tiled terrace – a perfect spot to escape the strong winds that this location high on the hill could not avoid. An opening roof system allows the owners to control the weather in this protected corner of the house.

Our clients obvious love of timber and bespoke craftsmanship stems from being a member of a long-standing local timber merchants’ family – accents of boutique timber are showcased with custom vanities, mirrors, beds, artwork, cladding, flooring, recycled posts and extensive decking and fencing.

All the selections in this home are high end with luxurious bathrooms – 4 in total – like something out of a 5-star hotel, plus 3 separate laundry areas ensure that this home is practical and functional.

So full of light and breezes, you take in the view from this beautiful space and think to yourself, if this was mine, I would never want to leave.