Waterfront Granny Flat Sydney

This Retro-1950’s- style ‘granny flat’ is located in Australia’s Northern Beaches, at the rim of Sydney Harbour and in the state of New South Wales. The main dwelling fronts a quiet yacht-filled bay known as Pittwater with native gum trees lining and bounding the secluded and exclusive location. The serenity of this site needed to be preserved to complete the classic Australian landscape. It was the steepness of the site which posed the most urgent challenge. If you were to place a tennis ball at your feet, it would roll away and you’d never catch it! At a prescribed maximum of just 60 square metres, this little structure had to be efficient, open-plan and positioned to take in those magnificent views of the harbour. A sunset here is something to be celebrated, so we designed an elevated portico and outdoor entertainment deck which was also finished in classic retro fittings, including turned balustrades and sandstone capping. A uniquely Australian architectural principle is to raise a structure on ‘poles’ for maximum circulation during the summer months, so this was designed from the onset. Internally, this little home has been graced with milled wood finishes, timber red gum floors and a classic chimney which makes this granny flat look like it’s been here for decades. The windows are also hardwood timber, painted to reflect the era which it’s trying to revive. Just lovely. The pathways and other landscape features have been chiselled rather than manicured into place, inviting the insatiable Australian woodland to come back in and impose itself on the landscape here. Just a year later and the site looks alive with lizards, cockatoos, wallabies and other native animals cruising past (particularly at sunset) whilst the Owners cheerfully choose between enjoying this native spectacle or the sparkling waters from the bay below.