Refined Calm – Bayside House by Cera Stribley and McCluskey Studio

Conjuring calmness, Bayside House is the restoration and realigning of purpose for the stately Victorian home, combined with a deliberate and minimal addition. Cera Stribley, together with McCluskey Studio propose a home of intentional purpose, referencing Japanese principles in the creation of the new, while ensuring the old remains and connects with relevance.

Behind the stately guise of its heritage sandstone front, Bayside House retains the essence of its rich heritage past, while opening to embrace its landscape and create a place of true escape. The familiar story of an ill-fitting extension rings true, and through its removal, the opportunity for an addition that connects and has resonance, is born. Drawing on Japanese sensibilities, the addition sits lightly and minimal to the rear of the existing stately home, carving a walled courtyard around which the building provides solace. At the core of the home is a sense of connection, both between the old and new, and between the inside and out, while also creating a calm and restorative haven from which to escape. Combining forces, Cera Stribley team with McCluskey Studio to create a home of refinement and lasting resolve.

At the core of the home is a sense of connection, both between the old and new, and between the inside and out, while also creating a calm and restorative haven from which to escape.

Built by Leone Construction, together with Butterworth Landscapes, the home’s formal front landscape responds to the heritage chapter of the home. As it then wraps around the side of the home, offering glimpses from the interior to dedicated garden zones, the landscape then evolves into a clean and minimal series of gestures in the courtyard space. Celebrating the connection and transition between old and new, a line of black stone becomes a portal to transition between the chapters of the home. While the original proportions a formality of the original are retained and restored, the new is a welcoming and openly connected family zone, with the combined kitchen, dining and living spaces grouped together.

Sitting above the contemporary living space and looking out over the pool and sculpted rear garden, are a series of newly introduced bedrooms and bathroom spaces. As the new volume wraps around, the roof line encases an existing exposed brick stable structure to the very rear of the site, and embraces it as part of the home, under the one sweeping roof line. The use of a monochromatic palette is carried from the architectural form into the interior response, where the same clean lines see large spanning stone pieces open to linear openings and glazing, connecting the interior with the landscape beyond. The grandness of the original home is carried through into the new through its open and generous volumes and a matched attention to detail and crafted elements.

The use of a monochromatic palette is carried from the architectural form into the interior response, where the same clean lines see large spanning stone pieces open to linear openings and glazing, connecting the interior with the landscape beyond.

Through restraint and an attentive rigor, Bayside House is crafted by Cera Stribley and McCluskey Studio as a haven of its own making, beautifully combining the past and present, and intended to endure well beyond its years.