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When architect Louis Nettleton first visualised this house, she sketched it as a large amphibian with concrete and glass gills running down both sides, like a pair of enormous lungs. It is an appropriate metaphor for the structure, situated on a steep site on Sydney's North Shore, cantilevered over a sandstone wall and crouching above the harbour.
The off-form concrete and brick construction replaced a Federation house that had suffered one too many renovations. The original sandstone foundations and garden walls were left intact and another the new structure to its location and its history. There are three entrances to the house: a main street entrance, and two private entrances - one through the garage and the other a discreet entry to an office/study.
The main entrance hall sets the tone. It has majestic proportions. Natural light pours down from the skylight and is boosted by a Nettleton-designed, angle-cut steel light that runs up the stairwell to the floor above the full height of the three stories. The texture of the rusted-down steel, along with an abstract but delicately filigreed pattern, is both functional and sculptural.
On the middle floor and off to the right is a large eat-in kitchen catering to the owners and their four children (it must be a dream when entertaining).
The kitchen is filled with light from a skylight above the main workstation, as well as from large sliding doors that lead to a balcony overlooking the garden and harbour.
Text by Candice Bruce, Vogue Living, November/December 2009
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