We’ve got another beautiful beach holiday home for you (our beloved readers, followers and Design Hunters™). We’ve featured a fair few in recent times, from Andrew Maynard’s minimalist-yet-modern interpretation of the beach shack to the uplifting architectural statement that is the Beached House.
The reason we love a beach house so much is that it reflects the way so many of us would like to live; it evokes feeling of relaxation and childhood memories and something other than the everyday. So when we came across this amazing holiday house by Collins and Turner we knew it was one worth sharing.
“I used to spend summer in Merimbula with my cousins at a family holiday house on Merimbula Lake so know the area well,” Penny Collins tells us. “The [owners] stay there with friends and go to the nearby surf beaches and play golf, and the house is also regularly let out to holidaymakers.”
The home, designed for Penny’s cousin, sits so well in the coastal landscape without losing the architectural intent. Inspired by the driftwood fences and dune grasses of the surrounding land there is softness to the building that suggests it’s been there for quite some time.
This is due in no small part to the grey-stained blackbutt weatherboards used for the external cladding and internally for wall linings.
“[The house is] positioned on a headland between the lake and the ocean. The frameless glass takes in the water views to the south and captures northern sun at the rear,” Penny explains.
Neighbouring houses to the east shade the house, eliminating the need for roof overhangs on this side while large cantilevers protect the west facing glass.
On the upper level a glass pavilion seems little obstacle to the views beyond and offers a space to connect with the landscape even when the South Coast weather turns.
In fact, Penny notes this as her favourite aspect of the property: “watching the ocean weather transform the sky with all is personalities, across the bay towards Victoria on the distant horizon.”
Inside, the home is furnished with a collection of new furniture and marimekko soft fabrics (in the bedrooms), as well as the owners’ own furniture. “The Eames aluminium group table and chairs might seem out of place in a holiday house, however they have sentimental value as they belonged to [their] grandparents, and are sturdy and comfortable.”
“The muted tones of the sofas from Anibou, curtains and sisal rug make the furniture a comfortable backdrop that doesn’t compete with the view.”
At night the black ceiling of the glass living room pavilion disappears, belnding into the night sky, completing the ‘lightness’ of this home in the landscape.
A home at the beach – magical.
Collins and Turner Architects
collinsandturner.com
Photography generously supplied by Simon Whitbread
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