An Architect's Own Beachfront Home in Sydney's Exclusive Fairlight w Luxurious Master Retreat!

Hey guys, Lucy here from Hunting for George. Today I am in Fairlight in Sydney's north. It is an absolute cracking day and I have got a serious treat for your eyeballs. The site I am about to visit used to be one three-bedroom home, but it has since been turned into two three-bedroom townhouses. They are referred to as the A and M houses. I've got the keys to one of them. As you can see, not a bad location. These are actually the original steps, but up here, nothing but new. I love that the deck wraps this full length on the outside, so from the front right to the beach. You've got this area here for your towels and also bench seat, hangout, get ready for snorkeling perhaps, or maybe just have a cheeky drink. The front door is there, but first I'm going to take you at the front. It's very cool and lush under this palm canopy. This is officially the front of the home. This leads onto, obviously, the street, but let's turn around and take a look at that view as soon as you park your car on the drive. There's just such a wonderful energy. As soon as you walk down this entry into this open space, there is a lot of light. There is just views surrounding you. And this is our front door. Oh, you can feel the cool air coming in. It's beautiful. Oh, let's go inside. Isn't that honestly the most sensational view you have ever seen? So I mentioned before, this used to be one home with three bedrooms. It was on a 600-square-meter block. And the architect and owner actually, Viv Marston, she actually transformed this into two townhouses. So she has made it smaller, but it doesn't feel small at all. It is just incredibly beautiful and high. And there's amazing interconnected doors and windows which open up. I love the way those doors pivot open. So obviously, it leads from the indoor dining table into the outdoor dining setting. If you've got more people around or if it's a beautiful summer's day like today, you can spend more time outside. But I want to show you into this kitchen area. So this is all open plan on this level. So this is our kitchen, our living, and our dining area. And what I really love about this home is all of the kind of clever design details. Love that sliding timber door that it just closes it away or you can completely open it up. And there's actually two sides to this kitchen. So this is the business area. This is the serious cooking. You've got your oven, your cooktop. This is where you prep your big meals. You've also got your fridge here. So this is integrated. So again, you know, very clever with the cabinetry because it's all just lovely and hidden away, leading you on to obviously your island bench, which is a really good size as well. Just the feeling of standing here, you know, looking out onto that view, looking out over onto that dining area. There's just a wonderful sense of light. So where is the rest of the kitchen? So when you open up the left side, it actually reveals the more functional, accessible kind of breakfast area. Make your coffees, your teas. You've got your appliances hidden away in here. So I love the fact that they've thought about the two different uses of the kitchen. I think that's incredibly smart. Shall I open up these doors? Because honestly, oh, there's the most wonderful breeze coming through. And you'll notice that the track for these doors actually have been reset. So it's completely seamless. And it just creates this feeling of openness, which leads your eyes straight to that phenomenal Fairfield Beach. So I've actually closed those doors off. There's actually no air conditioning in this home. So it is all controlled via that kind of cross ventilation that we've got with the doors that open up and also the window areas as well. So the living area, you don't really think about putting a TV here because you've already got a big natural TV outside, but you still need a TV. Clever hidden cabinet. I love that. And I love the fact that it's not on the wall, because to be honest with you, I think having a TV on the wall would almost be sort of sacrilegious in this space. There is so much to see. There is an amazing yacht going past right now, for example. So I like the fact that the TV is just a minor detail. There is a beautiful light void that's pulling the entire length of this home. It's allowing the most beautiful amount of light in, which really draws your eye to these walls and also the beautiful artwork, which is throughout this home. As well as that, there's also track lighting. Again, that's all recessed as well. Now I can imagine that at night, bringing a beautiful ambience to the space. And these walls, these have actually been rendered with beeswax. They've just got such a lovely tactile nature to them, and they're incredibly warm. So this is our front door. We could go upstairs, but first I'm going to take you into here. This is our home office. This is such a wonderful room because as soon as you enter here, it is a completely different climate. Like the temperature in here is really quite cool. I've just shut that away. And this is actually for sound recording. It's actually been designed for recording sound. And you can already tell it's very crisp and clear by the fact that I've just shut that away. You can also open up those doors to the outside area. You can also close it off. I love that. Again, there's just so much clever detail. I love that with the curtains. It's all recessed in. And so this creates a beautiful cocoon. Great for sound, but also just for that added privacy. So this is a lovely detail here with this mirror. And the actual reason for its placement is so when you're sitting at your desk, you can then turn and see the ocean view. Very smart. Also, can you see this mirror up here? I actually thought that that was an extension of the view and the window itself, which is exactly what it is meant to do. So I love the fact that that really opens up the space even further. All right, let's step up. So this is the guest bathroom. This has got a wonderful feeling in here. Come on here and have a look at the toilet area. So this is limestone that we've got on the floor and walls. There's a lovely kind of sloped basin. It's got a very kind of Japanese sensibility with this timber decking. It's actually plantation teak. It's on the ceiling and also on the floor. It gives a sense of being outdoors. But when you want to shut the door for privacy, it then reveals your laundry. So I love that idea. It's very space saving. It's very kind of tiny home thinking in not such a tiny home, but it's all about space saving. And I absolutely love the functionality of that. Speaking of doors, we've got a secret door over here. So this actually leads on to the front of the home. So here there is a double carport, but it's actually got a stacker. So they can actually have four cars here, which is amazing for Sydney itself, but a lot of space. So that means obviously we've got a lower level. So there is a basement down there as well. So they've really maximized every single inch of this block. We're going up. I love this light detail along these beautiful stairs. It's really reflecting a lot of the beautiful wall detail. A very cute window seat area. I like it. There's so many different aspects in this home, and this is a very dramatic centralized, very simple pendant hanging over this space. It looks out onto a lovely cactus garden, very low maintenance. Let's go into the bedroom territory. This is actually the guest bedroom. Tell you what, I would not mind being a guest in this home. So this opens up another deck out here. So this is south-facing. Gives you a different aspect onto the beach. And you can see from here just the other identical townhouse, just to the left, but very private. You can't see into their living spaces. That as well has those exterior blinds, so it can be either shut away completely or, as we've got it now, opened up. Here we've got a really calm and peaceful bathroom. I love this. This plantation teak again with that decking. Again, it just feels like you're in an outdoor shower, which is just so just perfect for the space that we're in, the location, the fact that we're right next to the beach. And there's the most wonderful detail of light coming through here. You can start to see it. And even this pattern, it sort of mimics what's going on with that decking. Ah, there's just... It's hard to explain, but there's such a wonderful feeling in this bathroom. It is so warm and so welcoming. We've got another bedroom, but at the moment it's not a bedroom. It's a very good home gym with a very good view. So again, we can have these amazing blinds, these louvers, which we can open up completely or shut them out. You can also open up to that front balcony, so that is north-facing. And here with the cabinetry, so this mimics what we saw in that other bedroom as well. I like the fact that they've thought about adding this detail area, so you can have a bit of styling space. You can put knickknacks, artworks, and also it just kind of adds a bit of sense of drama to the space. So you've got cupboard here, and then also you've got your drawers lower down. And I also like this detail as well, the fact that they've thought to put a window here looking onto that cactus garden. That's quite a nice view when you're doing your sit-up. They do not waste the view. Every opportunity, look at that. It really is something else. I just can't stop smiling in this home. There is just... I can't get over that view. But are you ready? Because I'm about to take you downstairs into the master suite. My mouth dropped as soon as I saw this space. I mean, as soon as we descended those stairs, the temperature dropped as well. It's very cool down here. You're very kind of inset. You're so close to the beach, but it's so private. You can't see anyone and no one can see in, which is just actually quite spectacular, the fact that we're so close to people, but it's so private. Where do I start? Let's start here in this incredible bathtub area. I love the circular nature of this huge bathtub and the fact that it's been mimicked with this amazing detail up here, which actually has a light feature. So it just completely makes this wonderful kind of transporter zone for your bath. And here we've got an open shower. I love this. And you might be thinking, well, what if you have a shower? Water is going to go everywhere. Well, there's more clever details, guys. Your enclosed shower. Again, all recess tracking. It's so smart. Oh gosh, it's so calm in here. I just can't even imagine what it would be like to shower here, looking out onto that incredible view. Because I've opened this, it's actually revealed the toilet. So again, it's so space saving. There's dual purpose for everything in this home. And I absolutely love it. I got excited when I walked in here for the first time because this made me feel like I was going shopping. I love this dramatic area. It's centralized around this huge ottoman. And you know what to expect, guys. We're in wardrobe territory. Oh my goodness. This walk-in gives me all of the feels. This is such a great use of space. And what is also incredibly clever, it's actually on, I guess, a racking system. So it's completely easy to configure your own settings. So the house on the other side has got a completely different system. You can just change it with your racking details here. And so I love the fact that they've thought about the fact that, you know, people need different uses of space. And the fact that you can change, it's just so clever. We have got double basins. And I love this detail of this mirror. And it's got these pivots. So you can actually move around. And if you're over here, for example, you can see the ocean. Come on into our sleeping quarters. I can't stop smiling. That is just insane. I love these lovely light details. It's very minimal in here. The interiors are very minimal. And I think it's because they don't need to be overcomplicated because you've got that. You know, you don't want to overcomplicate matters. So let's open this up. This truly is so special. Obviously, this is a very open plan bathroom with the bedroom. However, it's got this clever, again, curtain detail here recessed into the ceiling. So you can actually pull that across. You can actually create a separate area. And do you know what I love? When those windows are open, the breeze is coming through. It's kind of billowing the curtains. It adds such a wonderful sense of drama. I love just the light details. This home just continues to shift as the sun moves. It's just got such a sense of energy. So this is open to the stairs. But if you do want to shut it away, you can because the doors to our walk-in robe actually pull across to shut it off. Very clever. So that way, if the owners have guests to stay and they want a bit more privacy, they completely block it off from the upper levels. But for the most part, they'd be able to have it open and be able to move easily throughout their home. I like this little detail as well. When asked what this was, it's a beautiful little pivot because the architect wanted to make sure that she was making the most of that northern light from the top. So it filters through here. I just love the fact that she's thought about every single piece of detail. Okay, let's go back upstairs, get a drink and take a closer look at this house. Tell you what, thirsty work! Okay, so this home is designed by Vivian Marston who is actually the architect and the owner of this space. And formerly, this was one home and it was in pretty poor condition on this site. And when Vivian found it, she just thought this is begging for a redevelopment. So she went in with her best friend and actually split the land and created two identical townhouses. So it's all about density and really embracing that idea of smaller footprint living. You know, you don't need huge square meter calculations. You can actually have a very large and functional home if you embrace, you know, clever design details and height and light and are smart with how you treat your interiors. Everything has a dual purpose. You know, doors become shower screens. Panels reveal hidden rooms. A single door is functional for two spaces. A hidden curtain track completely changes the feeling of a room. There are just so many wonderful moments and interactions throughout this home. And it has just such a wonderful, I said before, like a tiny home feel, that idea of space saving. And I think even in some of the design elements, it kind of feels like it's got this Japanese sensibility, you know, that really clever use of space, making the most of the area that you have. The level that we're on right now, so this is obviously the living area. We've got the kitchen, living and dining. It is all about celebrating that view, which is just sensational and I can't stop looking at. And also it's about embracing that northern light as well. So there's a lot of window details in lots of different areas of the home. I love this vertical void that runs the entire length of the home. It brings the most beautiful amount of light in and it really picks up on that beeswax texture of that wall, which is just so incredible. And in fact, as soon as I walked into this home, I literally just started stroking the walls because it just has such a lovely tactile nature to it. And for something that's so kind of cool and grey, you expect it to be potentially cold. It is just so warm and welcoming. In terms of the interior throughout the home, I mean, it's very minimal, it's very calm. Vivian has got a wonderful sense for artwork. They're in the most beautiful pieces throughout the home. The kitchen is really clever and I love the way that they've kind of thought about those two different uses for their kitchen. And again, it's all about that dual purpose. And I love also the fact that, you know, it does close away and you can hide away your kitchen. So for the most part, if you have guests around, if you're entertaining, you know, it just becomes a wonderful light feature. This is a beachside property. So the whole exterior of this building is very sturdy and low maintenance. It does cop a very strong southerly coming off the ocean. So all of the exterior is very robust and there is no paint. So it's going to wear incredibly well. The office is a really special space. It's not often that you can kind of say the home office is one of the nicest rooms of the home, but I was actually quite taken by that home office. It was wonderfully cool in there. It had a wonderful aspect out onto the beach. But just those clever details, the sliding doors, the hidden track for the curtains, the way it captured the sound and the acoustics, that little pocket of mirror that made it feel larger than it actually is. That idea of that lower level mirror, purely so you can see the ocean when you're sitting at your desk. I mean, every little detail in this home has been thought about and I absolutely love that. Those pivot doors from the indoor dining area that open up onto the outdoor dining space. That is just so fantastic for when you just need more people to fit around your table or you just want to let the breeze through or you just want to enjoy the weather. I mean, that's what this home does. It allows you to open up completely or shut it away. And it's all about moving the house when you need it. You know, like I said, there's no air con. So it's all about that kind of cross ventilation and moving and opening your windows and doors in order to make the home comfortable for you. So upstairs, we saw that there were two bedrooms up there with a main bathroom as well. Really good size. And the fact that there are actually only two people living here, this is a really good size home. We're talking three bedrooms plus a study. My excitement overloaded when I went downstairs. I mean, that was just jaw-droppingly sensational. And do you know what? So damn special. I mean, that is just a whole other world unto itself. I love the fact that it's got this entire floor dedicated to the master suite. I love how open it is. I love how you can close things away. I loved everything about it. I loved that bath. It was so dramatic. I loved that shower. It was so dramatic. And it was just interactive, you know. And the fact that it can kind of move, oh, so clever, the fact that those shower screens can kind of be that dual purpose to either reveal a door to the toilet or to hide it away. I was just in awe, to be honest with you. Plus, that walk-in robe was just sensational. A huge amount of space. When you actually pulled across all of those doors to really create a private space, it actually revealed even more storage. And there's also, you know, storage underneath the stairs as well. So literally every square metre of this home has been maximised and nothing has gone to waste whatsoever. I've been trying to think about how to describe this home to you and I've got to admit I'm sort of struggling to put it into words because it's unlike any other I think I've ever seen. It just is so calm and so welcoming and it just exists. It just lets you into its environment and it embraces you the same way that the environment out there embraces you. So I guess I'd call it just welcoming and calm but just with this undercurrent of bubbling energy. But do you know what? I am sitting here, I'm looking at that view. I don't think I can just sit here any longer. I'm going to go enjoy it. Thanks for watching guys. I hope you enjoyed this Let Us In Home Tour as much as I enjoyed experiencing it. I would love to know what you thought. So leave me a comment below and be sure to like and subscribe because we've got plenty more home tours coming your way. Oh my gosh, you were so adorable. He or she? She. What's her name? Willow. Hi Willow. Oh my goodness. Oh, don't go falling off the shelf. No, no, don't go falling off the balcony. Come on Willow. Go with mum and then I'll give you another cuddle. Come on.