Holidaying at home

Designed by Whipple Russell

From the architects:

The site

As hillside design specialists, the Whipple Russell Team sometimes finds it necessary to move mountains – or at least part of one, in order to create a spacious yet intimate modern home. 

To accomplish these goals for this home, we first cut into the rear hillside to maximise the backyard living space and to site the house further from the street in the front. 

At the back of the property, two porcelain stone retaining walls create a balcony lounge area with a fire pit and greenery overlooking the saltwater pool, spa, and the entire property – including multiple fire pits, and an outdoor kitchen/bar. 

An Ipe wood walkway bridge leads from this upper seating into the primary suite.

Front entry

Strong horizontal lines combined with vertical wooden cladding and ribbon windows bring texture and balance to the front façade. 

The ribbon windows are topped with open trellised roofing, adding visual interest and ever-changing shadows.

Architect Yoav Weiss says: “The trellises cover without being solid so they bring more light into the rooms, especially down into the dining room area and this helps us provide more living space for the owner – because covered patios count towards square metres. 

“Trellises are repeated along the upper floor, and at the far right, horizontal slats are introduced for a louvered effect."

A rich and unified living space

The amenities and functionality of the design makes living in 697m² feel like 1,400m². 

This is resort style comfort living, modern, but not cold – strong lines that hold soft textures, warm colours and comfortable places to be, with plenty of natural light.

The plan is organised around an airy staircase volume; note the stair stringers land on the solid walls between the ribbon windows, adding to the floating effect as seen from both inside and out. 

At the foot of the staircase is a large glass floor panel. 

Light from the first-floor skylight streams down the staircase to the dining area and through the glass floor to illuminate the lower level.

Surrounding the living, family, and kitchen areas are Fleetwood window walls that open up the entire living area to the patio and pool and tree line. 

Marble is used on the kitchen island in addition to cool, neutral porcelain flooring – all warmed by wood ceilings.

Miele appliances also feature.

The living room ceiling is double height – open to the second-floor skylight, which also illuminates the upstairs bedroom walkway, gallery, and seating area. 

There are two guest rooms with baths, each with their own sunny balcony.

The primary suite bedroom looks out over the patio and pool, upper lounge deck, and trees beyond. 

A motif of beiges, browns, and jet-black play against the crisp whites of the recessed ceiling and the inviting curvilinear furniture. 

All is warmed by a rough stone fireplace.

Two skylights brighten the ensuite, one over the double steam shower and a larger one over the sink vanity with Taj Mahal stone countertops and Gessi wall-mounted fixtures. 

Adjacent to the master suite is the elegant dressing room with a lighted onyx counter topping the island.

Lower level

Creating a below-grade level entertainment space has become another Whipple Russell specialty. 

Easier to cool in hot climates, whether intimate and cosy or lavish and dazzling, these grownup playgrounds are in demand. 

This design includes an onyx bar and spacious lounge area complete with 150-bottle wine storage, a home theatre system with fabric wall coverings for excellent sound, and an exercise studio and spa.

Patio

In terms of the flooring in this area, there is a sophisticated design and engineering element underlying the seamless extension from the indoors to the outdoors.

A pedestal decking system is used so that the whole concrete subfloor can be sloping and undulating in all sorts of different directions for the right drainage, but the tiles on top are adjusted to be perfectly level. 

Instead of the tiles being grouted, as they are indoors, there is an open seam at the edges so rain can go down to the concrete subfloor and away. 

Also, if a piece of tile is damaged or cracked, it can be lifted out and replaced easily.

Story by: Trendsideas