Carss Park House is the renovation and extension of a two-storey family home in Carss Park, a suburb in Sydney's south. The existing house was stripped back to its original structure, and that retained shell became the starting point for a much larger home, with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two living areas, a sauna and a swimming pool.
The site is steep, rocky and heavily vegetated, and the house sits well above the street. Rather than fight these conditions, the design works with them. A new ramped approach makes the climb from the street easy and gives the house a generous arrival. Sandstone retaining walls hold the changes in level and tie the house to its rocky setting, while white-rendered forms and dark vertical screening give the street frontage a clear, contemporary presence.
Parking was a key part of the brief. The existing front garage was extended to take two cars, and a new double garage was added, bringing the total to four spaces. Above the new garage sits a teenage entertainment studio, giving older children a space of their own, separate from the main living areas.
Inside, the kitchen and dining area is the centre of the home. Two-tone timber joinery, a stone benchtop and splashback, integrated appliances and a fluted island are drawn together by concealed strip lighting set into the ceiling recesses, under the joinery and along the floor. Floor-to-ceiling sliding doors open the kitchen, dining and living spaces to the pool and outdoor areas, so the house extends outward through the warmer months.
Two separate living areas give the family both shared and private space. In the main living room, curved timber joinery and a fireplace wall add warmth. Between the levels, a floating timber stair with a glass balustrade rises over a bed of planting and pebbles.
The sauna and pool are arranged around the original structure, so the renovation adds new amenity without losing the house that was kept.
The result is a family home that keeps what was worth keeping, responds to a difficult site, and is designed for the way a family lives today.
