Houzz Tour: A Contemporary Australian Home Set in a Former Orchard
The site of a former orchard in Australia is transformed into a spacious home perfect for work, rest and play
Joanna Tovia
14 January 2015
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well. Follow her photodocumentary about pets and the people who love them on Instagram @unfoldingtails
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well.... More
If you’re going to work from home, you want it to be a home in which you like working, and that’s exactly what these homeowners set out to create when they embarked on building their house in far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. With help from architects Sarah Aldridge and Jason Trisley from Space Studio, the couple imagined a home that would meet their needs for work, rest and play.
‘Both clients carry out consultancy work from home, so a good home office space was an essential part of the brief,’ Sarah says. Their children live interstate and overseas and, therefore, tend to stay infrequently but for longer periods, so it was important they had their own space when visiting. The guest bedroom has plenty of storage and its own en-suite bathroom, and a refurbished on-site guest cottage is well used. The home office also doubles as additional guest space.
Both owners are excellent cooks and gardeners and enjoy entertaining so, as well as a fabulous kitchen and indispensable butler’s kitchen, the architects made sure they designed a generous covered back door lobby with gardening tool storage and a sink for washing vegetables picked from the garden.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here A professional couple with grown-up children
Location New South Wales, Australia
Size 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That’s interesting The property used to be an organic macadamia nut orchard with a Samoan temple and contemplation pavilion, but both were non-compliant with current building regulations, so had to be removed.
‘Both clients carry out consultancy work from home, so a good home office space was an essential part of the brief,’ Sarah says. Their children live interstate and overseas and, therefore, tend to stay infrequently but for longer periods, so it was important they had their own space when visiting. The guest bedroom has plenty of storage and its own en-suite bathroom, and a refurbished on-site guest cottage is well used. The home office also doubles as additional guest space.
Both owners are excellent cooks and gardeners and enjoy entertaining so, as well as a fabulous kitchen and indispensable butler’s kitchen, the architects made sure they designed a generous covered back door lobby with gardening tool storage and a sink for washing vegetables picked from the garden.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here A professional couple with grown-up children
Location New South Wales, Australia
Size 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
That’s interesting The property used to be an organic macadamia nut orchard with a Samoan temple and contemplation pavilion, but both were non-compliant with current building regulations, so had to be removed.
The garage is set apart from the house to provide a sense of arrival. A covered walkway links the garage to the house via a stepped ramp alongside a brilliant fuchsia wall.
The existing buildings on the site were in poor condition and non-compliant, so Sarah says it was a fairly easy decision to remove them and start with a clean slate. As well as the fuchsia wall alongside the pathway, splashes of lime green and sunny yellow on the exterior give this home a sense of fun.
As you enter the front door, you can see along the length of the south wall of the living room and along the tall oak bookcases and row of handmade pendant lights to the striking black wall and mirror at the far end of the room.
The homeowners love the room for its adaptability as well as its looks. In the long, subtropical summer, the doors disappear and the garden and views become part of the room. On chilly winter evenings, they stay cosy around the fireplace with its wonderful stone chimney.
Fireplace stone, Eco Outdoor.
See how to integrate a fireplace into your living room
The homeowners love the room for its adaptability as well as its looks. In the long, subtropical summer, the doors disappear and the garden and views become part of the room. On chilly winter evenings, they stay cosy around the fireplace with its wonderful stone chimney.
Fireplace stone, Eco Outdoor.
See how to integrate a fireplace into your living room
The architects positioned the home’s living areas with the sun in mind. ‘The combined living/dining/cooking room has long elevations facing north and south for plentiful cross ventilation and daylight,’ Sarah says. The floor is travertine tiling that continues outside to form the plinth that meets the landscape.
The 4.5m-wide sliding stacking doors allow the north elevation to open up to the landscape, both visually and literally when the doors are open and stacked behind the solid blades of wall.
Travertine tiles, Wilson’s Ceramics Byron Bay. Ceiling fans, Hunter Pacific. Pendant lights, Tom Raffield.
The 4.5m-wide sliding stacking doors allow the north elevation to open up to the landscape, both visually and literally when the doors are open and stacked behind the solid blades of wall.
Travertine tiles, Wilson’s Ceramics Byron Bay. Ceiling fans, Hunter Pacific. Pendant lights, Tom Raffield.
The careful passive solar design ensures that hot summer sun is blocked and warm winter sun is allowed into the living room to heat the travertine floor, which then acts like underfloor heating to warm up the room. The generous ceiling height and high-level louvres and ceiling fans, ensure the space remains cool and well-ventilated in the hot, humid, subtropical summer months.
A concealed butler’s kitchen accommodates the messier and noisier cooking activities, such as coffee making, blending and dishwashing, as well as providing storage for crockery and access to the outdoor dining and barbecue area.
The main kitchen is elegant, with glossy black cabinetry and appliances and a fine concrete worktop.
Sink, Blanco. Cooker hood, Qasair. Black prism tiles, Academy Tiles. Worktop, Mixed Element.
Sink, Blanco. Cooker hood, Qasair. Black prism tiles, Academy Tiles. Worktop, Mixed Element.
The multifunctional timber veneer wall separating the living room and home office is also a feature of the house that is very much designed to the homeowners’ needs, Sarah says. They have a large and complex audiovisual system, but they did not want to see the equipment except when necessary (such as when watching TV), so all is concealed behind various hidden doors in this wall.
This wall also provides general storage, and one of its secret doors gives full access to the back of the audiovisual equipment for easy reconfiguration.
Bee wallpaper on door, Emery & Cie.
This wall also provides general storage, and one of its secret doors gives full access to the back of the audiovisual equipment for easy reconfiguration.
Bee wallpaper on door, Emery & Cie.
Two pull-down guest beds are another hidden surprise within the wall of the office area. The office can easily be converted into a separate guest bedroom by closing the concealed cavity sliding doors to the living room and entrance hall.
Folding beds, Häfele.
Folding beds, Häfele.
One of the main challenges of this project was for the house to accommodate the homeowners’ extensive art and book collections. ‘They wanted sufficient wall space for these in the main living room, but also wanted a strong connection between the interior and the beautiful surrounding landscape,’ says Sarah.
Although the outdoor living room is located on the western side of the house, it’s the first part of the house to get the morning sun, so it’s a great spot to have an alfresco breakfast. The barbecue, pizza oven and servery windows to the kitchen also make this a very functional cooking, eating and entertaining space.
Pizza oven, Pólito Wood Fire Ovens.
Pizza oven, Pólito Wood Fire Ovens.
An expanse of well-maintained lawn ties in with the lush green of the surrounding trees and rolling hills of the Byron Bay Hinterland.
Each of the bedrooms is contained in its own ‘wing’ on the rear, south side of the home. The guest bedroom has an en suite with shower room (and is adjacent to the guest toilet), and features oak joinery that incorporates bookshelves, display shelves and clothes storage. Well-positioned windows maximise airflow during the warmer months.
‘The south wall opens up to a small courtyard, offering shelter from the northerly winds, and is a lovely place to sit and enjoy the winter sun,’ says Sarah.
The east-facing master bedroom suite can be accessed from the entry hall, but is separated by a concealed sliding door covered on both sides with the same black wallpaper lined with huge gold bees we saw in the office doorway (earlier photo). ‘That adds a little fun when the door is closed and the bees are exposed,’ Sarah says.
‘The dressing room also has a concealed sliding door so it can be closed up and efficiently dehumidified if required by the built-in dehumidifier to prevent everything going mouldy in this humid subtropical climate,’ Sarah explains.
Explore 10 creative walk-in wardrobe ideas
Explore 10 creative walk-in wardrobe ideas
The glass-panelled en suite is simple but refined.
Bathroom fittings, Häfele.
TELL US…
What do you think of this Australian home? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Bathroom fittings, Häfele.
TELL US…
What do you think of this Australian home? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
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The outdoor living room is really fantastic. Love the green and pinl outdoor walls colours, nicely cheeky but fit great with enviornment. Well done.