ROCK OF AGES

Taking many cues from Italian modernism, this four-level family home combines function and form with spectacular and imposing results.

- CHRIS PEARSON

With a commanding presence, this five-bedroom house has a monolithic quality owing to its sheer size and expanses of travertine both inside and out. Elegance and robustness, sometimes seemingly at odds, step out in tandem, proving that the owners can have active children – three in this case – without waving glamour goodbye.

In 2018, the owners asked interior designer David Hicks to design them a home from the ground up to replace a humble brick dwelling that squandered a prized site. Tucked away in a cul-desac in Melbourne’s inner south-east, the elevated location soaks in sweeping views of the city, a serpentine loop of the Yarra River and parklands of mature eucalypts. “We were drawn to the unfettered views to east, north and west,” says the owner, who simply needed a house that would capitalise on those virtues.

“We wanted a resort-style feel, where we could feel forever on holiday, but also stylish with attention to detail,” he adds. He drew inspiration from Melbourne modernist architect Wayne Gillespie, whose career spanned 30 years from the 1970s. “Wayne created homes with a box-like symmetry and a European feel,” says the owner of the pure uncluttered lines that meld with the features of classical Italian villas. But, while Wayne favoured masonry, the owner chose stone to bring the family’s new home to life.

All of this made David a perfect fit for the project. “Being a simple modernist building, the design direction would be focused from the inside out, which is how we work,” he says. “This allows the windows and other structural elements to be positioned in sympathetic places, rather than working around these elements after the fact.” David worked closely with landscape designer Jack Merlo on the external finishes and final design.