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At this modern Bellevue Hill home, living and entertaining doesn’t stop at the back door. Instead, these spaces spill out into the backyard, the welcoming front gardens and even the intriguing ‘green roof’.
This indoor-outdoor ethos is a key part of Sydney landscape design studio Landart, who created the property’s calming U-shaped gardens, creating a lush outlook from every window.
Landart director Matt Leacy — who co-designed the project with Tom Wright — says the garden was designed to envelop the home in greenery.
In order to soften the imposing, all-white build, they created rustic hardwood timber pergolas as an organic element that helps ‘bring the house down to earth’, alongside a collection of established plantings.
‘The timber provides a warmth that vertically connects the house to the garden whilst framing the outdoor hardstand areas,’ Matt says. ‘It provides a sense of intimacy when sitting underneath it.’
A boardwalk along the side of the house also draws guests out into the rear pool area with natural limestone crazy paving underfoot. The backyard is reminiscent of a private resort or tropical villa, with sun lounges waiting on a timber deck beside two towering kentia palm trees (Howea forsteriana) and an outdoor shower below frangipani flowers (Plumeria).
Matt says palms were intentionally used throughout the ‘controlled planting palette’, seamlessly connecting the serene gardens to the front of the home — where a sweeping curved wall and pathway is complemented by a mix of textural plants, including aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis miller), sweet viburnum (Viburnum odoratissimum), and goring silver (Helichrysum petiolare).
But one of the most impressive elements is that the main entertaining and garden area is built on top of the garage, as an enhanced ‘green roof’ that enjoys views of the surrounding treetops and towering palms, which were craned in especially for the project.
Matt says, there’s always a spot to retreat to — no matter the season, or time of day.
