Parsley Bay House
living private°
Parsley Bay House is a private residence located in Vaucluse, Sydney. The project involved the complete renovation of a mid-80s modernist house and was commissioned by Phil and Jackie Staub, with architecture and interiors by George Livissianis. Parsley Bay House was completed in 2017.
Size: 1,115sqm
Scope: Concept Design, Tender Documentation, Construction
1. Planting casually integrated with architecture (above left)
2. Entry Garden featuring Client’s sculpture (below left)
3. Espaliered fig in the vege garden (right)
Street Entry
Client’s sculpture sited in the entry forecourt
Playful poolside planting
A mirrored pool amenities building disappears into the garden
The planting palette is an eclectic array of natives, exotic sub-tropicals, edibles and succulents.
1. Poolside with the Client’s sculpture (above left)
2. The existing pool was simplified and renovated using a palette of new pebblecrete and sandstone paving (below left)
3. Discrete garden pathways with new paving (right)
The new formal entry walkway of terrazzo contrasts strongly with the casual informality of the garden
The long table
Under the shade of Parsley Bay angophoras
Concept Plan
Master bathroom window garden
Elevated terraces are nestled into the garden and the adjacent bush land
Connected living space and working garden
The pink terrazzo recalls the bark of the Parsley Bay angophoras.
Design statement
The clients initially feared losing the charm and ‘strange symbiosis’ of an overgrown jungle garden and it’s companion ‘retro-modern’ house. The new design evolved with the client’s appreciation for the potential to open up new possibilities for the garden’s use, it’s relationship to the house and it’s unique site. The design focussed from the outset, on a legible narrative, responsive to its context and to the character of the home’s owners.
A sequence of spaces now open and close to provide dramatic experience and distinctive opportunities for passive and active use. From the entry to the pool to the living spaces and beyond to Parsley Bay, each garden space is clearly defined by its use, its relationship with other garden spaces, and its improved connection to the house.
These include light-filled alfresco dining with a gas or wood-fired bbq, catching the late winter sun in a cosy corner, dreaming on a timber daybed under native palm trees by the pool, or relaxing in the cool shade of a Sydney rainforest garden after a swim at Parsley Bay.
The planting palette is as eclectic as the clients themselves – mixing succulents and sub-tropicals, natives with nana’s favourites, indigenous edibles with heritage exotics. All existing mature trees and shrubs (including angophora, cordylines, camellia, umbrella trees, strelitzia, tree ferns, ponytail palms, bangalow palms, weeping lillypillys, and native frangipani have been retained.
The owners now engage with their garden more. Edible plantings are embedded throughout the garden and contribute to the character and activation of each space - like the heaven-scented lemon myrtle grove at the dining terrace, and the rambunctious working garden at the kitchen courtyard.
The house and garden are located on a sandstone escarpment in an urban bushland setting. New paving and walling is built from Sydney sandstone and NSW Spotted gum seating envelopes the existing palm grove. The pebble-crete pool was renovated with a contemporary aggregate selection to match the lighter coloured sandstone. This restrained material palette connects the built form to its site context, and provides a neutral and grounded contrast to the project-defining new pink terrazzo that weaves itself from the street entry through to the feature interior details. The terrazzo too, though eye-catching, is grounded in site, as it recalls the unmistakable bark of the Parsley Bay angophoras.
A new mirrored, outdoor amenities building is a landscape and architectural folly, a sculpture itself amongst a selection of others traditional, one that appears and disappears into the new and original plantings that surround it.
This new garden is a wholistic and unpretentious place for respite, play, and for entertaining family and friends. It is, most importantly, a garden that represents and reflects the personalities of the owners.
