This stunning Caves Beach home's dramatic transformation was driven by a family's desire to not be wasteful and to keep part of the house's history alive.
The former apricot-hued, 1996-built house is barely recognisable in what is now a beautifully refined and pared-back, modern home. Known as Seacliff House, the property, which is on the south end of Caves Beach with Wallarah National Park to the southwest and ocean views to the east, is a perfect complement to the surrounding coastal environment.
In October 2019, the client, a family of five with a dog, approached Toronto-based Ekah Studio to help them develop and clarify their design vision. After six years of living in the house and with strong ties to the area, the family decided they would stay put and renovate. While they felt the house was big enough, they wanted to adapt it to better suit their lifestyle.
"From the outset, we wanted to achieve maximum impact with minimum intervention, and the key question was how to modify the existing structure to better meet their lifestyle while working with the existing building footprint," architect and founder of Ekah Studio Jasmine Richardson says.
"It was important to my clients and in keeping with my design philosophy, that the house feel homely. A term we referred back to throughout the process is the Danish and Norwegian word 'hygge', meaning something like wellbeing and describing a mood or feeling of comfort and contentment," Richardson says.
"Certainly, this can be subjective and represented in many ways depending on the client, however, this house is a representation of what it means to these clients in this location."
Ekah Studio undertook an intensive concept and design process with the clients. Through this, the client identified they'd like to give the house a more relaxed holiday look and feel, to make it more visually complementary to its coastal environment, to better capture ocean views and breezes from the upper level (the closed old roof didn't allow for this), enhance its indoor/outdoor flow (particularly around the pool which felt disconnected from the house), and to create a retreat for their three children.
The process from concept to completion took around three years, with the build, which was undertaken by Evolve Co. Architectural Builders, being finalised in December 2022.
"The existing house was essentially stripped, but for the exterior brickwork and roof framing," Richardson says. She notes that the former house's scale and proportions remained intact as a nod to the much-loved family home's past.
Major work was undertaken both internally and externally. This included the demolition of the house's old gable, parapets, chimney overrun, the ground-floor bedroom (to create an open-plan kitchen, dining, and living area), and the renovation of the pool, garage, and old bathrooms.
New roof sheeting and insulation, windows and hoods, rainwater tanks, new internal joinery, linings, and electrical and lighting layout were installed, and an outdoor room, roof garden, and pool house were added. Other aesthetic upgrades, such as the new external paint finish and landscape design by MUD Landscape Design, were also undertaken.
"It's an astonishing transformation," Richardson says of the five-bedroom, three-bathroom house with a double garage, pool, pool house, outdoor room, and roof garden.
"A home that has been 'turned inside out' and opened up to make the most of its beautiful location. A private sanctuary for our clients, but also welcoming and generous to the street."
Overseen by Beach Road Interiors, the home's style has a "modern coastal meets Scandi" feel, she says.
"Most importantly though, despite the overall 'style', the artworks, furnishings, and pops of colour are a representation of my client's personality."
Not long after the renovation was complete, the client hosted a house tour for their family, friends and everyone who contributed to the project.
"It was a wonderful evening and the perfect way to signal the bittersweet completion of the project. When I arrived at the house tour, they were so proud of the outcome and overjoyed at the opportunity to share it with everyone," she says.
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