On a rocky bluff facing out over the hills and valleys of national parkland, 2 hours north of Sydney, Australia is the location for the Three Chimneys House. The owner, a single, older man, a creative professional successful in media and an entrepreneur has chosen this site as a retreat from the pressures of his success. It will be a place to reacquaint himself with his love of nature, to walk with his dogs, enjoy his music and share time with specials friends.
Sometimes in the Australian landscape you will see a remnant of another time, of earlier white inhabitation. A solitary fireplace and chimney standing resolute while the rest of the home has gone, eroded by time or fire, the victim of climatic or economic disasters. Still, this thing that was once the centre of life for family, remains, a symbol of our primal need for warmth and shelter, life sustaining and life affirming. This idea became the touchstone for the design.
There existed on the site an older dwelling with a stone fireplace and chimney. It was decided to keep this element and re-interpret it into a modern expression of this home on a platform of stone. The character of the house reflects the character of the site; large planes of sandstone, eroded and fractured were refined into a series of organic platforms defining the functions of the house. They are arranged in an arrayfollowing the form of the bluff, hunkered below the knoll, facing north to expansive views and the ideal aspect.
The extent of intrusion into the landscape is defined by these platforms, one, the pool, becoming a liquid, reflective slab bringing the sky to the ground.
A series of loosely radiating concrete walls define the living spaces, allowing the natural vegetation to penetrate into the ‘fissures’ between rooms. To the original fireplace we have added another two, also in stone, creating their own centres in the living room and guest area.
The roof is a folded ‘drape’ of slate shingles, which follows the gentle arc of rooms, the highs and lows defined by the stone platforms and the fissures between them, echoing exactly the character and nature of the hills and valleys of the surrounding landscape.
This is a home that allows a connection with the natural environment, a retreat from urban life, a place to share the ‘life’ we all aspire to – inspirational, relaxed, fulfilling.
