Project: Large Family Home
Architects: Watershed Design
Design, Decoration and Styling: Sarah Jayne Studios
Location: Sydney, Australia
Area: 387 sqm
Year 2018
Photographer: Simon Whitbread
Text by SJS: A large family home over three levels, stepping down a cliff top site overlooking Freshwater Beach to the north. The home was designed to take advantage of the stunning location while providing a private sanctuary for the owners and their young family.
It was this home’s dramatic location on a cliffside, overlooking scenic Freshwater Beach, that formed the starting point for the interior design. “The finishes, furniture and features needed to sit quietly against that view rather than compete,” Sarah Jayne explains.
Set across three floors, the spacious, open-plan home has been designed with a young family in mind. The clients requested a light and airy open-plan dwelling that would accommodate the needs of their growing family, and also provide a private sanctuary. For this reason, the top floor is a dedicated parents’ retreat comprising a generous master bedroom, walk-in robe + ensuite, home office and parent’s retreat.
The main living floor accommodates the two youngest children at the front of the house, while at the back of the house – floating above the ocean – is the kitchen, dining and living area. This area steps out on to an amazing terrace for family BBQs and alfresco living, with integrated, retractable blinds, operable louvre and sliding aluminium screens to create an extended outdoor space that can be used all year round.
The oldest children have their own space on the lower ground floor, with bedrooms overlooking a private undercover terrace, pool and that breathtaking ocean. This space also contains another living room, games room and kitchenette to fulfil the needs of any family with teenagers and their tribe of friends well into the future.
When it came to the interior design, Sarah Jayne opted for a relaxed, beach-house style complemented by contemporary Scandinavian furniture, layered with finishings of natural textured materials such timber, stone and glass. “The use of the timber and sandstone in the internal architecture was backdrop for all the beautiful unique features we were able to interject into the interiors.”
“My favourite finish of the many we were able to specify would have to be the Atlantic honed granite used as slabs on the oversized kitchen island, and the wall to wall floor plinth under the living room joinery, sourced from Worldstone. The pale grey marmorino used as a backdrop in the living room and master bedroom added a visual layer that added subtle depth and soul to the spaces.”
In general, the furnishing selections throughout were chosen to reflect the young, cool and unpretentiousness clients’ taste. “We used a mix of Danish and Australian furniture that was simple but beautiful (not trendy!) and, most importantly, of the highest quality to sustain this young and growing family and friends for the future.”
