This idyllic coastal location appears to be in a remote part of Tasmania. But it’s only a 25-minute drive from Hobart.
Perched on an escarpment, and overlooking Frederick Henry Bay, May’s Point was originally farmland and only recently broken into large parcels of land, this one being 20 hectares. The plot was purchased by a Sydney couple with three adult children and who were looking for a holiday house. They had seen architect Stuart Tanner’s ‘Dunalley House’, completed in 2016 and appreciated its simplicity and the relation to that terrain, feeling part of it rather than added. “That house, like this one, isn’t about competing with the landscape. The terrain is powerful in its own right,” says Stuart, who, being a surfer, was as mindful of how this new house would appear from those riding the surf directly below. “It wasn’t an appropriate place to ‘scream for architectural attention,” he adds.
The kitchen features the Pavilion Stool by &Tradition.
The living room features the Tripod Lamp by &Tradition and B&B Italia Tufty-Time Sofa.
Notable pieces in this space include the Vantot Limpid Pendant Light and the James Richardson Dining Chairs.
The low-slung house, with broad eaves, is constructed in in-situ concrete and generous glazing. At one end of the 300-odd-square-metre house are the main bedroom and two further bedrooms. And at the other end are the open plan kitchen, dining and living area. And from the moment one passes the threshold at the front door, one’s eye is led to the large pivotal glass door at the end of the passage and the cliffs ahead.
Stuart is quick to credit the builders, as much as the structural engineer, in making the house appear relatively lightweight, but at the same time incredibly robust. “Jim Gandy (a prominent structural engineer) helped us to create the massive concrete walls at either end of the house. They also add texture to the place,” Stuart says, who used stained timber for the ceiling that extends to the home’s broad eaves.
To accentuate the landscape, Stuart created a series of moody, quite sombre spaces. The kitchen, for example, features a black steel bench, Japanese tiles for the splashback and a dose of raw concrete that’s a perfect backdrop for the owners’ objects and artefacts. And while the focus is towards a concrete hearth in the living room during the colder months of the year, the generous glazing on either side of the dining and living areas allows the outdoor terrace, with its stone fireplace, to be used as an outdoor room during the warmer months of the year.“Even in winter, you can get the outdoor fire charged up and it quickly warms up the living areas,” Stuart says, who was also mindful of continual cross ventilation.
While May’s Point is special in terms of its unique location, it’s now also memorable with this latest addition to the site. There’s a strong presence of the terrain throughout the dwelling, along with the fusion of a slightly industrial aesthetic, but refined for domestic living. The unusual cobbled terrace and rough recycled sawn timber benches, circa 1860s, and from an old jetty, also bring a sense of the past to this magical home, so close to Hobart but in a world of its own.
Levelling up to the spectacular view, the bathroom features designer favourites like the Articolo Fizi Ball Sconce and Yokato Wall Set by Brodware.
stunning this house has it all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love so much about this house. The simplicity of the architecture which doesn’t take away from its warmth and the stunning site and views. I wish I could live in a house like that.