As an architect designs a hilltop home inspired by his childhood in Italy, Terreno emerges as a deeply personal response to the landscape of Vaucluse, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Designed by Luigi Rosselli Architects, the residence forms part of Hillside, a collection of four homes developed by Moshav Financial. Drawing on memories of Mediterranean villages and a childhood country house perched above a ravine, Luigi Rosselli has created a home that celebrates the relationship between architecture, landscape and convivial living.
The journey begins with an ascending pathway, inspired by the Acropolis in Athens. Monumental rammed-earth columns establish a sense of arrival, while cascading rooms follow the steep terrain. As the architect designs a hilltop home inspired by his childhood in Italy, the sequence of spaces becomes central to the experience. The home balances moments of intimacy with extraordinary harbour views.
Working alongside Luigi Rosselli Architects, interior design studio Handelsmann + Khaw approached the project from the inside out. Led by Tania Handelsmann and Gillian Khaw, the interiors complement the architectural forms without competing with the surrounding landscape. A restrained palette of natural materials creates warmth and permanence, allowing the Sydney Harbour outlook to remain the focal point. In the kitchen, grounded joinery is contrasted with expressive stone, introducing movement and character.
Materiality is fundamental to Terreno. Rammed earth reveals geological layers, while curved terracotta screens reference ancient Roman construction techniques. Copper detailing is intended to develop a patina over time, reinforcing the home's enduring character. Built by Lords Group, the residence reflects a commitment to craftsmanship and materials that age gracefully. Here, the architect designs a hilltop home inspired by his childhood in Italy through tactile surfaces and architectural gestures that recall the Mediterranean. Throughout the house tour, the relationship between interior and exterior becomes increasingly apparent. Rather than creating uninterrupted glazing in every room, the design offers carefully considered transitions between enclosed spaces and open terraces. These moments encourage gathering, conversation and connection, making Terreno particularly suited to entertaining.
The main bedroom crowns the residence, offering panoramic views stretching from Bondi Beach to Sydney Harbour. Positioned like an eagle's nest, it captures the remarkable geography of Sydney, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge. As the architect designs a hilltop home inspired by his childhood in Italy, this elevated sanctuary becomes a culmination of the project's guiding ideas: memory, landscape and a sense of belonging.
Developed by Moshav Financial within the Hillside estate, Terreno demonstrates how contemporary residential architecture can draw meaning from personal history. This home tour reveals a thoughtful collaboration between architecture and interior design, where each element contributes to a lasting sense of place.
Ultimately, as the architect designs a hilltop home inspired by his childhood in Italy, Terreno becomes an expression of permanence and hospitality, shaped by the past yet firmly connected to its Australian setting. 0:00 - Introduction To Terreno House By Luigi Rosselli Architects 1:10 - Shaping Architecture Around The Natural Terrain 2:13 - Blending The Spirit Of Different Places 3:04 - A Journey Through Terreno’s Layered Spaces 4:36 - Natural Materials That Bring Warmth And Character 6:17 - Building A Home Designed To Stand The Test Of Time
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I was climbing this very steep road where
the terrain for Terreno was going to be.
And it reminded me of those villages
in the Mediterranean Sea where you had people building
on top of hills to protect themselves against predators
and pirates coming from the sea.
This is reminding me a bit of my youth in Italy,
we had a country house on top of a hill
and we spent wonderful time and this sense of conviviality,
this sense of spilling out into
a flat garden on the edge of a ravine,
it was fantastic and I have tried to reconstruct
this kind of terrain and this kind of architecture.
When I first visited the site, probably six, seven years ago,
I was immediately captured by the views.
I think Luigi fell in love with the site
and it just made sense to work with him.
So I asked him to develop a sketch first
to what he thought would best fit.
The first sketch that Luigi put to me was on his classic yellow notepad
and he really captured the essence of the site in one sketch.
And from then I knew that he was the right architect for the project.
The first line that I drew on this project
was this image that I had on that morning
of the Acropolis of Athens.
Acropolis of Athens has got this beautiful path climbing the hill
and you walk between two buildings.
Luigi designs the project from the outside in
and Tanya designs the project from the inside out.
Hi, I'm Tanya Handelsman and I'm Gillian Corr.
We are the co-directors of Handelsman & Corr,
an interior design studio based in Sydney.
The first time you walk up the steps of Terreno,
you start to feel something.
You see these very thick columns made out of rammed earth.
At the material level, you think you're somewhere else.
And I think once you come inside,
it's unmistakable that you're in Sydney, but at the same time
it is a blend of a lot of different places.
You could be on the Tuscan coast,
you could be on your own private Greek island.
It's a suite of rooms cascading from a high level
to a lower level with soaring ceilings,
so it's a great arrival
when you turn left.
So with a view as extraordinary as
The views in this home,
we really did feel that the interiors needed to exercise a
certain level of restraint
because they will always be the backdrop to that view.
I think that one of the main ideas of the home
is this feeling of permanence and beautiful
materials that age naturally.
For the kitchen specifically the joinery is very grounded in
the architecture and so we really wanted
the slab to introduce movement and character.
It's funny, when we have clients,
almost everybody says we love to entertain, but in reality
no one entertains as much as they say they do.
But I do think this is an entertainer's house.
It's really made for that sequence of entertaining.
It's not a glass box that has a view of the view from every room.
It is about being inside as much as it is about being outside.
I've always had
a passion for rammed earth.
I'm a soft architect. I've got a soft spot for a lot of soft materials.
It's got this layering. It's nearly geological layers.
The screen in terracotta tiles with semi-circular form,
which they've been existing since the Romans.
So they were used for culverts in Rome and they used it also as screen.
Just the orange hue of the terracotta gives
the warmth that it's very welcome.
If you look at the copper throughout the site,
although it patinas over age,
it looks fantastic when it's first installed as well.
So you know we're not building something here for the short term,
we're building something that is here to last.
The favourite room in the house is the main bedroom
and it has 360 degrees views from the ocean over Bondi Beach.
to the harbour. It is like eagle's nests
or people call it sometimes a captain desk.
I think that the interiors are speaking
beautifully with the architecture which
is speaking beautifully to the landscape.
You'll walk up the stairs and you'll
immediately feel at peace.
You're in somewhere that's almost a sanctuary.
I won't be here in 50 years time
but whoever enjoys it in 50 years time I hope that they
will feel home and warm
and fall in love with as much as I love the property now.
