Wharf House
Perched on Sydney Harbour, Wharf House’s mesmerising vista across the water is equally matched by its immediate surrounds. The home’s encroaching branches of mature Angophora trees offer a serene sense of being enveloped in nature. Our role regarding the grand residence’s revitalisation was to heighten these connections, enhance its abundant heritage detailing, and reconfigure the layout to accommodate the practicalities of modern-day living. What results is a home that feels solid and still, with a fresh breeze that flows from the open terrace into the newly appointed kitchen.
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Full Interior Design, Custom Fabrication and Furnishing
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Anson Smart
Home to a married couple with young adult children, the renovation took several years to complete given their decision to build a primary retreat within a sandstone cavity beneath the living level. Its generous glass doors open onto a patio, providing garden views to the waterline.
We intertwined the language of old and new, enhancing the leadlight windows sprinkling soft jewel tones throughout plus the finely crafted intricacies of the ornate fretwork, window trims and architraves. Yet while there is a romantic and whimsical element to our re-design, it does not tread lightly. There is a strength to it, resulting in a family home that feels refreshed, yet grounded and enduring. Tiles now clad the semi-enclosed terrace incorporating a breakfast nook we designed via a bold checkered grid pattern crafted from hand-cut tumbled stone that flows across to an open balustraded area. Capturing the morning sun, this setting offers the perfect spot to perch for breakfast or coffee, transitioning to an evening drinks and dinner destination in the warmer months.
Unlike contemporary renovations with open plan living areas, we respected the home’s existing structure. Each generously proportioned room possesses its own colour palette and character, yet a cohesiveness flows throughout via balanced tonal saturations upon walls plus floors via patterned rugs, tiles and stone. Grounding tones include toffee and copper, maroon, rich greens and an immersive deep-sea blue that anchors the kitchen where the gold and rusty veins of ‘Caravaggio’ quartzite mimic the harbour shoreline’s shades.
Entering the home, the library/sitting room is invigorated by a pale green olive shade with yellow undertones that refresh and uplift, ushering a sense of arrival within its grandest room. It draws the eye to its heroes: the vaulted ceiling we painted white (a shade reserved for all the ornate ceilings to highlight them) and the celestial impact of the floral leadlights that fan around the entrance doors like a peacock’s tail.
Everything had to age respectfully with the architecture and not compete with it, so our furnishing approach was an eclectic melding of different eras. Evading dense hangs of artworks, larger abstract canvases softly float across walls. Contemporary interventions bring a dose of drama including the tessellated porcelain tiles we laid in two bathrooms taking their cue from nature with their floral and star motifs. All the bathrooms feature solid custom stone and timber custom vanities with intricate profiles that soften their stature. They float above the floors to avoid disruption to the floor patterns. One features tubby legs comprising bands of moss green stone, while the master ensuite’s bathtub perches upon chalcedony blue spheres. Aligning almost every room, custom fluting features add streamlined ornamentation, enhancing the hand-crafted nature of the home, particularly within the kitchen.
‘A 1920s bungalow with Sydney Harbour views and beautifully restored heritage decoration is a thing to delight in, and so Arent&Pyke does just that with a charming renovation that revels in the details.’ Lindyl Zanbaka, Vogue Living
More of Wharf House
Arent&Pyke acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respects to them, their culture and traditions. We recognise their connection to the land and honour their elders, both past and present.