Houzz Tour: A Heartfelt Home Amid the Trees

When architect Richard Cole designed this house, he had the distinct advantage of knowing the habits and routines of its future occupants inside and out. This was the home his parents were to live in during their retirement years. “The house acts as a container for possessions accumulated over their lifetime,” Cole says. “There is a place for a whisky bottle, a kitchen nook where busy schedules can be organized, a deck where dusk can be savored. The house is both sanctuary and gallery.”

The house was built over an escarpment in a densely urbanized heritage conservation area in Waverton, on Sydney’s lower North Shore. With natural materials and textures to achieve warmth, the home was designed with beauty in mind — both in the design itself and the connection the owners feel to the Angophora trees surrounding it.

Photos by Simon Wood

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Tina and Terry Cole
Size: 2 bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Location: Waverton, Sydney

When you’re thinking where to spend your retirement years, who better to ask to help you create it than your own son? Architect Richard Cole has made the most of the steep site and leafy surrounds with a “bold sculptural gesture that is primarily site driven,” he says. “A sheltering timber-lined roof opens to the north, falls in response to the slope of the land and captures framed views of adjacent Angophora trees.”

Angophora costata, also known as Sydney red gum, with its smooth pink bark and twisted limbs, is a eucalyptus that’s endemic to the southeast coast of Australia. “Angophora” was derived from the Greek words “angos,” meaning “vessel,” and “phero,” meaning “to bear or carry,” in reference to the fruit.

Cole thinks of a house as also being a vessel, one that contains the lives of its inhabitants. “The nature of that vessel contributes to how the inhabitants experience their day-to-day existence, and how they are placed in the world,” he says. In this case the inhabitants are the parents of the architect, and the vessel has been crafted to accommodate their particular way of being.


From the street, the owners and their guests walk through a tranquil courtyard with a linear pond and stone wall.



The front door opens to a light-filled open space beneath the sculptural canopy roof, with views over the valley.

East sofa, Jesse Haiku lounge chairs: Fanuli Furniture


The house is fully accessible and designed for Cole’s parents, Terry and Tina, to age in place. They were willing to take a leap of faith with the design of the house they think of as the last one they’ll live in.

They had always wanted their son to design them a home — one that was luxurious but not too huge, and one that allowed them to feel connected to the ground, trees and birds.

“This house was designed with a lot of thought and a whole lot of love,” Tina says. “We love it.”

A dramatic steel and glass elevator, seen here, takes the owners to the garage on the street below.



“A sheltering timber-lined roof opens to the north, falls in response to the slope of the land and captures framed views of the trees,” Cole says. “The unexpected escarpment is retained, raw and open to the rooms of the lower ground floor.”


Two platforms launch into the space of the valley, extending from the anchoring escarpment.


A fireplace brings warmth and ambience to the dining room and living area on either side, and presents a backdrop for a work of art. The architect designed the Tasmanian blackwood table. “It responds specifically to the space it occupies,” he says.

Dining chairs: Takahashi Asako, Mark Tuckey


The Artek breakfast table and chairs are the same design the owners had purchased in the 1960s, thanks to the resurgence in popularity and subsequent availability of midcentury modern furnishings.

High Stool 64: Artek



Minimalist in form but far from cold, this house is contemporary but still relaxed and comfortable.



On the ground floor, the living and dining areas make the most of the view, as does the master bedroom, which is complete with a spacious dressing area and an en suite.


The study, bathroom, cellar and bedroom on the lower ground floor fit snugly against the rock face, which is visible in some places inside the home.






The curved island countertop echoes the home’s external lines as you enter (see next image).

Woodwork: Hammercraft Joinery; island top: Calacatta marble, Granite & Marble Works; cabinet finish: satin polyurethane in Natural White, Dulux





Rather than opting for the usual folding glass doors, Cole surrounded the living areas with insulated timber. Movable walls transform the space from warm and enclosing to open and unimpeded. The windows in the wood walls also serve to frame views of the valley when closed.

“The house is a testament to the wonderful craftsmen who built it,” Cole says. The sliding wood windows and screens, pivot doors, wood ceiling, paneling and cabinetry were all handcrafted elements custom made for this house. “The design called for minimal tolerances [margin for error], which required a high level of skill and cooperation between trades,” Cole says.



Beauty was unashamedly the object of the design, which Cole says is meticulously crafted and carefully composed.

The warm tones of the tallowwood decking create a seamless connection between inside and out. “The strength, durability, rich tones, natural textures and other unique properties of Australian hardwoods have been exemplified in this project,” he says.



The master bedroom offers sweeping views of the trees and valley, with recessed lighting for a streamlined look that takes nothing away from the natural beauty of the timber paneling and ceiling. The 130-millimeter-wide (about 5-inch-wide) tallowwood flooring has a Synteko finish in Natural.

“We designed both levels to feel solid at the back, to feel part cave-like against the slope and to open to the views to the south and west,” Cole says.

Magnetically operated internal louvered blinds in the bedrooms enable privacy and sleep-ins.



The en suite continues the wood theme, but marble mosaic tiles help the space feel light and airy. The entrances to the shower and en suite itself are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair should the need arise.


Bluestone tiles, marble mosaic wall tiles: Belmondo Tiles; vanity top: Carrara marble, Granite & Marble Works; cabinets: tallowwood veneer; toilet: Rogerseller



Stairs lead down to the lower floor. Behind a pivot door hides a cellar and a glimpse of sandstone rock face behind.


The elevator, the entrance to which can be seen on the left, will make it possible for Cole’s parents to use the whole house in their old age.


The front door, seen here at the top of the stairs, is a custom 40-millimeter-thick (about 1½-inch-thick) paneled solid tallowwood piece with vertical glass infills.



The study is a peaceful room, tucked away from the more public areas of the home but with the same finely crafted woodwork.

Lounge, ottoman: Eames, Herman Miller; chair: Aaron, Living Edge


In the guest bathroom downstairs, it took some persuading to get Tina and Terry to agree to an exposed rock wall, which they feared would get wet. Cole had adequate drainage installed to prevent any dampness.

Tub: A-125, ACS



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