Located on the steep hill above Balmoral Beach in Sydney, Mosman House enjoys panoramic views over the bay and harbour towards North Head. A raw material palette provides a cool, calm backdrop and emphasises the sculptural qualities of the house, while jewel-toned furnishings draw the colours of the landscape inside and natural finishes encourage touch and a more intimate connection with the house. 

The clients wanted a family and entertaining home that maximised views and made a modern and timeless architectural statement. To design the house, they engaged South African architecture practice SAOTA, which worked in collaboration with Sydney-based firm Tanner Kibble Denton Architects (TKD) to deliver it, with Alexandra Kidd Design (AKD) working closely with the client to select and design furnishings and lighting.

Built on two adjacent sites, Mosman House is wider than is typical for the area, allowing for broad, expansive views. It is recessed into the steep hillside, with cascading layers of cantilevers and overhangs providing terraces, canopies and lofty, structure-free living areas. 

While the house is sculptural when viewed from the water side, it appears more understated from the street, since only the top storey is visible. The house is entered via a bridge crossing over a sunken garden and a large wooden door opening to a double-height volume. Concrete forms frame a harbour view and the house stretches out below. The parents’ and children’s bedrooms are on this top floor, each with a private terrace and timber-lined ceiling.

The middle level is the heart of the house with living and entertainment spaces, including indoor and outdoor dining and lounge areas, kitchen, family room, cinema and study areas. Minimal walls and columns allow for uninterrupted views and free-flowing spaces between inside and out.

Roof gardens and a long, shallow water feature create a natural edge to the terrace, and a slip of garden encircling the house provides a lush, green backdrop, glimpsed through the glass kitchen splashback and glazed doors.

“These offer a sense that one is surrounded by natural elements and enhance the connection to the landscape,” says SAOTA architect Erin Gibbs. On the ground floor, a rumpus room, guest bedroom and covered outdoor area look out to the pool; its dark granite tiles recede against the bright blue of the harbour. 

The monumental nature of the house is accentuated through the concrete, granite and sandstone material palette, which provides a cool and robust backdrop to the outlook. Off-form concrete transitions between inside and outside, and horizontal and vertical surfaces, framing the impressive volumes and views.

The concrete modules with visible tie-rod holes expose the building blocks of the house while textured granite flooring is akin in colour to the concrete. Sandstone cladding brings a touch of warmth with subtle variation and veining. 

SAOTA and TKD custom-designed features such as the kitchen island. Hand-carved from two granite boulders, its chiselled form complements the natural landscape and reinforces the sense of the sculpture and monumentality of the house. “The rough texture of the bench is a counterpoint to the strong, straight lines of the house, and it becomes a centrepiece with a different geometry and aesthetic, although of the same material,” says Gibbs.

SAOTA and TKD also custom-designed the bathroom sink, which appears as though it has been chipped out of marble, and AKD designed the concrete bench seat and timber table alongside the stairwell wall to create a casual family dining area close to the kitchen. 

The architectural palette is offset with wood, bronze, leather and fabric, bringing texture for warmth and intimacy. A timber joinery wall comprising diagonal sections highlights the wood grain, and furnishings with jewel tones and plush upholstery add a touch of glam. “Our brief was to soften the interiors of this very strong and masculine structure, creating spaces that are nurturing and casual with sophisticated undertones,” says interior designer Alexandra Kidd. 

Sapphire, gold and metallics in the furniture, artwork and decorative objects mirror the intensity of the water, sun and sand, and add rich accents of colour against the more-neutral-coloured furnishings and architecture. The clients wanted to find the perfect position for Christopher Boots’ Phasmida pendant, and it hangs over the formal dining table where its branch-like form can be viewed from above and below. 

AKD used smaller-scaled furniture and textured layers, such as silk rugs, drapes, leather and linen upholstery, to create cosier spaces within the large volumes. “Guests are encouraged to remove their shoes and press their bare feet into the natural stone floor, and to run their hands across the surfaces to feel the story of the finishes and furnishings, intimately connecting to the otherwise vast spaces around them,” says Kidd.

Indeed, Mosman House offers a sensorial experience that draws the eye to the celebrated view while inspiring a tactile connection with the interior of the house.  

This article first appeared in Urbis magazine.

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