Stalking old meets new

Georgian facade vs modernist interior. That's how the real estate agent describes this Woollahra, Sydney home. "An Iain Halliday creation, this house has a dramatic mix of timber and glass behind its heritage facade. Floating above a moat in a walled courtyard, it's your 'castle' of modernist design." Yada, yada, yada. Let's just say "yum". Link here while it lasts.

Comments

[Blanders]

I usually adore your stalking targets, but not here. While I like a good dose of wood-warmed modernism as much as the next person, I think this place simply sacrifices too much function to qualify as good design. The moat may be cool, but it makes the kitchen and "bathroom" so cramped you'd be constantly slashing yourself on the louvres whenever you turned around. The shameless agent-speak "Japanese tub bathroom with twin vanity" translates to "there are two sinks in the laundry, and also an undersized bath and a toilet in a windowless coffin off to one side".

And there doesn't appear to be a refrigerator. When your architect asks you, "Do you want a moat or a fridge?", the correct answer is always, "What the hell is wrong with you, Halliday?" At least in my bourgeois little opinion... ;)

[loulou ste-adele]

When too much is much worse than not enough...

[kim]

Fantastic detailing and conceptual design. But with such limited square footage the loss of interior space for the duplicate "water feature" seems too high a price to pay with little design payoff. Actual bathroom and/or laundry would make this home more usable, as would an expanded kitchen/pantry. Bridging the utility and sleeping blocks wouldn't lose a view but could double the sqft of those rooms. The photography is also amazing. This home would feel small and uninspired under most lenses, but here it really sings.

[Ryn]

Stunning craftsmanship, gorgeous materials, and just enough restraint. What a lovely nod to FLW.