;)
SEARCH
OR VIEW ALL PROJECTSOR GO BACK TO SEARCH RESULTSOR VIEW ALLPROJECTS BY ARCHITECT BURLEY KATON HALLIDAYRESIDENTIAL PROJECTS1995 PROJECTSPROJECTS IN SYDNEYPROJECTS PHOTOGRAPHED BY SIMON KENNY |
The old iron gate stands ajar, its sign, 'Maple Cottage', slightly askew.
Through the blazing reds and golds of the maple trees that gave rise to the name can be seen a simple white fibro cottage, a typical postwar weekender with a front door complete with textured glass porthole.
But preconceptions can be misconceptions: the first hint that all is not what it seems is a row of perfectly aligned deck chairs on a new timber deck.
Then a black leather and chrome Corbusier chaise, glimpsed through a window which itself is of unusual proportions for a little mountain cottage.
Clearly, the sensibilities at work here are light-years away from the predictable 'country look' (something scrubbed, something old, gingham and chintz) - and in fact this is the mountain getaway of a man renowned as a designer's designer.
The house was a joint purchase and project with landscaper Angus Prentice, and the land around it was a major factor in the decision, five years ago, to buy.
"We'd decided to look for somewhere with a garden - a change from inner city views," says David Katon. Missing out on one property, they returned another weekend and found Maple Cottage, still occupied by the 94-year-old woman whose husband had built it.
"It was totally original, just as they'd lived in it."
David had no intention of making a design statement with the renovation: this was to be a retreat from the fast-pace world of interior and architectural design, so very little was done to the structure.
Existing windows were lengthened to allow more view of the garden, and three separate rooms were knocked into one big space.
"There was a small traditional living room with a fireplace and a television in the corner; the dining room was through a single door and you walked through another door into the kitchen, with benches around the sides and an old fashioned oil-fuelled stove, which we kept. "I found the kitchen quite difficult to plan actually," David admits. "By dropping the windows to the floor and keeping the fireplace alcove 1 was left with virtually no wall space hence the island bench." This stores crockery on one side and groceries on the other, and houses a bank of drawers, a refrigerator and a dishwasher, with sinks incorporated into the marble top. There are no overhanging cupboards to detract from the view or the feeling of simplicity and spaciousness.
Weekenders are often repositories for furniture unwanted in the city and so it was with Maple Cottage. When David bought a Saarinen dining table for his Sydney house, the terrazzo table he'd had for 10 years came up here - in fact, the furniture throughout are pieces he already owned. What makes the difference is the designer's 'eye': the things David Katon has always liked and lived with happen to be modem designs of such distinction they transcend fashion. "People associate modem furniture with a slick city apartment: I don't think those rules have to be followed. Take the Corbusier chaise: it's actually the right place for a chair like that, by a window, in a tranquil environment with something to look onto."
One of the few things bought especially for the room is the Philippe Starck armchair, "a big comfortable leather chair with an almost '30s quality to it". Near it is a side table, found in a junk store, which now supports a silver tray that fits so perfectly they could have been made for each other.
In easy juxtaposition with the clean lines of contemporary design are elements that are distinctly 'mountain', such as the stonework that forms the new fireplace surround and the bathroom floor. The stone came from garden paths that were recycled when they were taken up to make way for planting.
"When we came there was nothing out the back, just the Hills Hoist, a shed, and islands of grass," says David. Fortunately there were some established trees, and the lack of planting meant he had a tabula rasa with which to work. A bobcat was brought in to level the ground, with croquet and chairs under umbrellas in mind. The back lawn is now a bold rectangle of grass, running the width of the house, and a magnificent horse chestnut tree towers overhead, planted as a reminder of those in Paris. A neglected photinia hedge was cut back and trimmed as it thickened to screen neighbouring houses, without blocking views of the gardens and trees beyond. The front garden was "very pink", so the aim has been to create a balance by adding white and blue in dogwoods, lavender and lilacs. "We've planted a lot of camellias and mollusc azaleas in intense pinks and oranges to counter the pink azaleas already established - they're enriched by the hot, saturated colours of the newcomers. In springtime it's really over the top with bulbs and the whole works; I love it in summer, when it's green and white with blue and white agapanthus through the trees, and blue hydrangeas. It's lovely in winter, too, when the trees lose their leaves and you can see across to the open fields opposite."
All this 'floribundence' is the handiwork of Angus, the landscaper, no doubt? "Not at all," laughs David. "I do most of the work in the garden. He comes up here and reads books." Clearly, the tranquil retreat is fulfilling its function.
|
|
