An architecturally designed home at Coledale aims to offer both a treechange and seachange lifestyle.
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‘The Creek House’ at 34 Park Street, Coledale is located directly opposite Sharkeys Beach, and is now for sale.
Expressions of Interest close on November 15, with the agent saying they were seeking EOIs in the $2.3 million to $2.5 million range.
Cantilevered over native rainforest and Jacky Jones Creek, it looks straight out to sea.
Architecturally designed by Michael Vail and completed in 2010, this four-bedroom, two-bathroom home is a fusion of mid-century Danish and Japanese influences, with an intrinsic Australian character.
Natural stone and timber finishes, custom-made joinery and a Japanese Onsen-inspired bathroom are among the home's features.
Arranged over three levels affording ocean views from most rooms, The Creek House has the capacity to be split into two, providing fully self-contained accommodation on the lower level with a separate entry and parking.
A long-time Illawarra architect, Mr Vail and his family have lived in the home since its completion.
“After we bought the land we spent two years getting weeds out of the creek and totally re-vegetating it, and re-planting the native rainforest basically,” he said.
“Then we started building.”
Mr Vail said the design process resulted in some challenges.
“(In the Illawarra) we’re in a strange no man’s land of design, because we’re not tropical, but we’re also not temperate.
“So we have to allow for houses which are quite adaptable.
‘So you have to have a house which opens up to become like an open space in the summer to allow the breezes through and to absorb the landscape.
“But you also have to have a certain way you can close down and shelter for the winter.”
Mr Vail said there was a “strong theme of recycling” throughout the home, namely the use of many recycled materials.
They decided to sell because they “saw another potential in the property, which is to create another exciting house on the creek”.
“We’re building a small house out the back of that house,” he said.
“So we’ll have a secondary dwelling which we’re going to subdivide… That house is a brand new house, much smaller, totally different in style, and we’re going to move into that house.
“I just love building and designing; it’s a dynamic process which I really enjoy.”
Selling agent Vanessa Denison-Pender, principal at One Agency Downie and Denison-Pender said that it was “very rare to get a property of such good quality and detail”.
“It’s not an old home that’s been renovated or added on to; it is an authentic, original architect designed home,” she said.
“If you want to buy a block of land and engage an architect to build a house in this part of the world, and to get that quality of finish of house, you’re going to be spending a lot more than $2.5 million to get it done these days.”