A Picasso painting inspired this cliff-top house near Sydney by architects Durbach Block Jaggers.
Above photo is by Brett Boardman
The curved forms of the kitchen and living room, which project over the sea supported by four angled stilts, are derived from the torso of Picasso’s The Bather.
Above photo is by Anthony Browell
The two-storey Holman House was completed atop the 70 metre-high cliff at Dover Heights back in 2004.
Above photo is by Brett Boardman
Stone walls surround bedrooms on the ground floor, which nestle against the rock face.
Above photo is by Brett Boardman
Terraces surrounding the house at different levels provide two patios, a top floor garden and a lower level swimming pool.
This project is the third Australian house published on Dezeen in the last week, following one residence with an oversailing glass roof and another that incorporates cantilevering concrete slabs – see all our stories about projects in Australia here.
Photography is by Peter Bennetts, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s some more information from the architects:
Holman House
Dover Heights, Sydney
Sited on the edge of a 70-metre high cliff, the plan of Holman House refers to Picasso’s painting The Bather.
It contains a complex series of fluid living spaces set within a meandering perimeter that arcs, folds and stretches in response to sun, landscape and views.
Above photo is by Reiner Blunck
Living and dining areas cantilever out over the ocean, allowing dramatic views up and down the coast.
Above photo is by Reiner Blunck
The lower floor forms a base that is built from rough stone walls like an extension of the cliff below.
These walls continue along the cliff edge to form a series of eccentric terraced gardens and a vase-shaped rock pool.
Above photo is by Brett Boardman
Architects: Durbach Block Architects
Above photo is by Brett Boardman
Project team: Neil Durbach, Camilla Block, David Jaggers, Lisa Le Van, Joseph Grech, Adrian Gessner
Completion: February 2004
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See also:
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Urezkoenea House by Peña Ganchegui |
D House by Panorama |
This is quite possibly one of the most desirable homes I have ever seen. A lavish contemporary interior, on the doorstep of one of the most expensive places to own real estate in the world with stunning views. What a feat!
That is an excellent way to spend a bazillion dollars.
WOW,This beautiful house is part of my endless dreams !
this house has been around for yonks!
very beautiful… how they are going to clean some of these windows? But well, if you can pay….
Using the strip window and floor-to-slab glass wall in the same space is a very interesting idea. And such a beautiful living room!
The surface of the living room with irregular stone pattern, the circular sofa, the animal skin reminds me the Fallingwater House of FLW, if my memory isn't failing me. There is also the cantilever over the water.
Great house and great place. I wouldn,t even dare dreaming with a place like that.
An absolute gem. Makes fantastic and expressive use of a difficult and restrictive site, and it's modest in scale. The ocean at night is so powerful and moving, it must be wonderful to sleep there. I think this is on my list of the top 10 houses of all time. Just love it and it's great to see it here.
I want to go to there.
now THIS is a jaw-dropping view!
Love it.
Complete celebration of site and use.
Where can you sit in the shade, when the sun becomes to much. I my view not a house for living, but more a house for cocktail parties and such.
Had the pleasure of assisting Peter Bennetts when he photographed The Holman House. A marvellous couple of days that I will never forget!
want to live in such a house when i'm old
Fantastic! From inside it feels like you are on a ship! I want to live there!
Stunning project. Beautiful concept and execution.
My opinion differs wildly from most of you.
Visually it feels cold empty and isolated. There is a vacuous sterility underlying the 'brilliant' architecture. Feels like bored / empty wealth. I bet no one here could stand living in it more than a month. Take your wife and you wouldn't last 3 weeks. Take your wife and kids… 2 weeks. Unless you're an antisocial narcissistic hermit who desperately needs somewhere to waste away… it would be an interesting place to spend an evening or maybe a weekend… but a home? No.
looks good but Australia is not short of natural disasters and I would be rather worried living there in a tropical storm.
It would be fun living there to spend vacation.