Home Tour on a Cliff! 🌊 Modern Addition to Lightwells House Avalon. Architecture Ian Bennett Design

Hey guys, Lucy here from Hunting for George. Today we are in Avalon in Sydney's Northern Beaches and we are going to be checking out a recent alteration and addition known as the Lightwells House with spacious living areas and a master suite that capitalises on a phenomenal view. Let's go check it out. So it's quite a high contrast facade but it has this very warm recycled brick staircase leading you to the front door. So here we've also got this terracotta herringbone tile which we're going to be seeing more of. I am at the front door, I'm going to be taking my shoes off so that means you guys get to go in first. So that is quite an entrance. So this is actually, like I said, an alteration and addition. So where we are standing now actually differentiates the old with the new. So we have this section here in the roof line, what was once a gable is now a half gable that opens up into this new space and that light well, which is punching a beautiful amount of light in here, really differentiates that seamless connection between old and new. So we came up those steps, those amazing red brick staircase. We've got more stairs leading us into the living area. There's a lot to take in here but I've got to start with this kitchen because this is probably the softest, calmest kitchen but it's so incredibly bold and robust. There's so much to love here. This huge island bench, polished concrete. This is 4.1 meters in length so it is a very generous size and the cabinetry in this kitchen is just beautiful with this very ever so soft, beautiful eucalypt color. I have literally kind of moved my way around this kitchen and all I want to do are open these cabinets. That's literally all I want to do. There's just so much to sort of see and pull and everything's just so flush and works beautifully well. We've got our oven area here, plenty of storage and this has a lovely push detail getting us into the pantry space. Everything is very much hidden away. It's very seamless but follow me this way because you really need to have a look at the aspect you see when you are in the kitchen. A huge integrated fridge and freezer. So this actually, the brief was to bring in more living area and it was also to bring in a master suite and the owners first of all thought well they could do it all on one level but the architect Ian Bennett actually pushed for this to be extended so this was actually the full width which for very good reason because guys, look at that view. This is an incredible frame of this area. Gosh, that was such a breeze to open and there is also this wonderful breeze coming through and you can pick up on that sea air. It's amazing. It's so fresh. To be honest, let's wander outside. You can see that amazing recycled brick again which has been treated on the exterior. It's so bold and so strong and it really just, it's got this amazing Norfolk Island pine as well right out the front. It really does frame it beautifully but look at this landscape. Look at what you're looking out onto. In we pop. So here we've got that recycled brick again. I love the way that we've got the stair detail but we've also got kind of inbuilt seating, the fact that there's these different layers and if you come up you also get to this terracotta herringbone which we saw out the front as well so I love the consistency and the warmth of this color palette with beautiful interiors I might add. I can only imagine sitting here, cup of coffee, cup of tea, reading your paper. What an absolutely magnificent view. Here we have our living space. You can notice we've actually got this polished concrete detail over here with a lot more storage. In fact, there's a lot of storage that's been thought about in this addition which I love. You know, wherever there is space, they've definitely made use of that. Right, we're going up. These stairs are just so generous. They're so wide and they've got this amazing detail here between this soft green and the timber. It's creating a really lovely shadow line and it almost feels as if you're kind of floating up these stairs. So here we have the light well. So this is what is punching through all that wonderful light and differentiating that kind of space between the old and the new. So this is our point where we are going into the master suite. That heavy framing, this triangular frame just kind of points your eyes straight towards that view and this is such a spacious master suite. We've got a king size bed here, two very generous side tables and look, this is actually looking out onto a public area. So people do walk their dogs, they're walking up and down quite a lot. So in order for it to be a private space, we do have these external louvers which completely shut out. Even that in itself is quite graphic and bold as soon as they have shut. I love, to be honest, I love the fact that they just bring this kind of graphic element to this space. But we have got to check out this ensuite. Obviously, completely open plan, but what differentiates the two, you know, the dry to the wet area is the flooring detail. So we start to sort of step over these timber boards into this tiled herringbone, which has just got, it is just sensational feeling in here. The materials, the color are absolutely beautiful. This window detail has been purposely framed here so that you can see through to Indian head. It's a wonderful sort of outlook and it is very private as well. I'm going to get in the tub though, I'm going to get in the tub. The floor mounted tap is beautiful. That bronze fixture of fitting we see a lot through all of the bathrooms in this home, which is a really lovely soft but very strong tone at the same time. I really like this vanity. So we've got double basins and we've got another lovely timber detail, which I can see these LEDs. I'm going to turn this on. Ah, how good is that? I love how, I love the lighting in this home and I love how seamless it is. It's just very well considered, you know, everything that, you know, it just amplifies the space. It just enhances it. So this is where you get ready in the morning. Now through here, very generous proportions with the shower area. And what I also like here, everything's sort of recessed in. We've got this kind of inbuilt shelf, a recessed head into the ceiling. And what I like is that, you know, they've thought about the toilet and they've kept privacy. So that frosted glass into the toilet area, a very generous size, not too pokey at all. It's all about generosity in this home. There's one other thing I forgot to show you. That LED strip lighting, again, similar to what we saw in the ensuite. It is just like drawing your attention straight out the window. It is like a massive arrow pointing your view outside. And here we have actually got walk-in robes. So we've got hers and his. Equal size, very fair. I love how much storage is in this space. So we've got storage everywhere, like I mentioned. So here we have got this storage. It's actually a feature of the staircase. So it's underneath and they've actually turned it into a very cheeky bar area. I do love that. Oh, they've got some bloody Shiraz gin. I just love the way how the light timber works with that light green. It's incredibly soft and works so well with this environment. I'm going to step down because we also have storage on the other side of the stairs. This time in that pale green, again, it's just clearly identified. And they've actually kind of really taken the time to think about the lines, the shapes that this creates. That powder room has a very consistent color palette with what we saw. It's got the herringbone tiles. It's got that beautiful bronze feature tap and also those light timber accents as well. It's very calm. It's very calm in here if you haven't noticed. Let's check out this home in more detail. But first, I'm going to pour myself some sparkling water. But let's make things a little more cozy. So those sheer curtains are not only dramatic, but they're also incredibly functional as well, because this is quite an open plan living area, which looks out onto a public headland. So they do actually add an incredible amount of privacy, which is exactly what you would need if you are facing onto this public space. So this location itself, Bangali Headland, is very unique. It's very dramatic, but it's also incredibly exposed to the element. So the exterior, because of that, has been designed to be incredibly low maintenance in order to withstand those conditions. Black and aluminium cladding, brick and terracotta pavers, they will all withstand those extreme weather conditions. And again, just low maintenance, because who has got time to kind of keep looking after their exteriors? So the outside is very strong. It's very bold. It's very robust. But on the inside, it's a completely different sensibility entirely. It is so incredibly calm. And I am quite taken by the color palette throughout this home. There is an incredible softness to it. You know, the most beautiful, light polished concretes with light timbers, with that soft eucalyptus detail, which you can see in the cabinetry, which is all throughout this home and also through the doors. And that wonderful bronze detail as well, like it's just reflecting pretty much what's going on in the environment. And the environment itself is absolutely stunning. So I love the fact that they've brought that in here to really dictate how the interiors feel. The integrated storage and cabinetry and appliances in the kitchen are so incredibly seamless. And I quite literally was just going through opening every single door because they all just have an incredible feeling to them. They've been wonderfully made and they just have such kind of flush details. They really are quite a joy to kind of open and close and pull and push. It's very seamless. Everything is integrated. So everything is very clean and clear. And I do like the fact that it kind of just, it's very minimal and it really does draw your attention outside. And in fact, this whole new area, which we looked at, it's all about celebrating and enhancing that view and really celebrating the location where we are in. Those sliding doors that really open up that incredible long rectangular frame outside are a breeze to open. They are just so fluid, so smooth. And again, it kind of helps that character and calmness of this home. And it's when you get outside, you actually get to really appreciate this kind of new addition to this building. And I love the way that the bricks not only are on the paving on the front, but also follow all the way up the sides. I really like the way they kind of wrap and encase that building. The connection between the old and the new is through that light well. And it's very seamless. It's not a very dedicated area where you can tell that this is the old, this is the new. It's all just floats and merges incredibly well. It's got a lovely flow to it. And that light well as well, it brings in a beautiful amount of light and it does shift and change and move with the environment, which I can imagine this home would because you are so sort of exposed to the outside and it really does bring what's happening outside in. So I've got to talk about upstairs because that master suite is something else. I love the fact that they decided to go up a level and dedicate that space solely to the master suite. And I love that kind of pitched roof leading your eyes straight to the view. It is so dramatic. It's so graphic. There was very clear separation in that master suite and I liked the fact that it was open plan but they had differentiated the wet and dry areas through their flooring detail. I loved that herringbone detail again. We saw it in the terracotta outside and then we see it throughout the bathrooms here. It's a very beautiful and intricate flooring detail and I think it just plays to the rest of that kind of intricate nature of the interiors of this home that bathtub was just spectacular. It was a huge size. It was looking out onto this phenomenal framed window pocket which led your eyes straight out to the headland. The lighting as well. The LEDs were so incredibly fun. I love that strip LED that led your eyes straight towards the edge of that window and also the LEDs that wrapped around that vanity that double basin vanity. It created such a drama and playfulness to it really. I'm trying to think of the words to describe how this home makes me feel and I think it's just confidently calm. It knows what it is and it doesn't need to shout. Thanks for watching guys. I hope you enjoyed this tour of the addition to the Lightwells house. I would love to know what you thought of this space. So leave me a comment below and like and subscribe because we've got plenty more home tours coming your way.