Six Years, Many Hands: The Making of a Mosman Harbour House

Early in the morning, the cruise ships come up Sydney Harbour still lit from the night. The large transport vessels follow, then the yachts, the ferries and the smaller craft that keep the water moving through the day.

At 9 Burrawong Avenue, Mosman, that traffic is visible from every level of the house. On this side of Mosman, an outlook like this is the reason for the address, and it shaped how the home was conceived. Designed by McNally Architects in collaboration with the owners and a team of consultants, it is a house arranged around a view and finished in materials chosen for the way they handle light.

A labour of patience

Two years on paper, four on site

The house took six years to make: two of planning and four of building, with Beluxe Homes as builder. Much of that time went into work that can only be done slowly. Italian Venetian plaster was hand-waxed over many hours. Brass details were crafted and welded on site.Stone slabs were carried in by teams of ten.

Beneath the finishes is a solid concrete structure, with custom steel windows and doors handmade in Australia and set in strikingly wide reveals.

Arrival

Brick, zinc and water

From the street, a floating zinc roof kicks up above clerestory windows that draw light deep into the plan. The walls combine Petersen bricks handmade in Denmark, zinc cladding, quartzite crazy paving and textured render.

The front door is solid brass with a bespoke marble handle, reached across a koi pond under a glass floor. Water sits right at the threshold before the harbour comes into view.

Material Light

Plaster, metal and crackled glass

Inside, the defining quality is how the surfaces treat light. Polished Venetian plaster covers walls and ceilings on the bedroom level. Hand-burnished liquid metal lines the dining room, powder room and stairwell.

After dark, the lighting carries the idea further. Alex Fitzpatrick of A Design Studio created a suspended installation of clear and tinted hand-blown crackled-glass pendants on solid brass fixings, hung at varying heights. The forms recall sea creatures, a nod to the water below, and the crackled glass casts patterns across walls and ceilings at night.Fitzpatrick also designed the crackled-glass and brass-tube light above the kitchen island, worked with an artisan stonemason and set with rings of white Patagonia quartzite.

Stone is the other constant. Arabescato Grigio, Calacatta Borghini, Calacatta Viola and Four Seasons marbles from Italy and France appear in curved vanities, fluted bathroom walls, fireplace surrounds and the dining credenza.

Three levels

Space for everyone, joined by a life

The plan is built for a family that wants to be together and apart in the same day. Older children can have friends over and remain completely separate from the main part of the home. A six-person commercial lift from Spain, finished in marble, smoked mirror and brass, links all three levels.

The entry level is the social floor. Living and formal dining open to a full-width balcony facing the harbour, and the dining room seats 20. The sunlit kitchen sits at its centre, anchored by a curved marble island with a seamless waterfall edge. It opens directly to the pool and alfresco terrace, so whoever is cooking stays part of the conversation outside. A sixth bedroom sits near the entry.

Upstairs, five bedrooms are arranged in two wings on a single level, either side of a family and theatre room lit by a curved skylight. The main bedroom opens to the harbour-facing balcony. A second main suite overlooks the pool and gardens, and two further bedrooms look onto roof gardens.

The lower level holds the rooms that benefit from a little distance: a billiards room with wet bar and gas fireplace, a climate-controlled wine cellar, a gym with an indoor quartziteZen garden, a western red cedar sauna, a steam shower and a study. Even the garage door has a glazed panel that frames Shark Island.

The garden

A pool for every season

The landscape is a collaboration between Dangar Barin Smith and Bamboo South Coast. Dragon trees and cloud trees stand among cacti, succulents, agaves, ferns, palms andAustralian natives, with roof gardens extending the planting upward.

The fully tiled mineral and saltwater pool and spa are heated by heat pump and gas, beneath a Skymax opening roof that makes them usable year-round. Nearby are a firepit in microcement, leathered granite and brass, and an alfresco room with its own kitchen, laundry, bathroom and desk that closes up as a self-contained space.

Built to breathe

The systems you do not see

This is a house built for wellbeing, and much of that work is out of sight. Natural light andcross-flow ventilation are the starting point. Breezeway glass louvres retractautomatically according to wind speed and direction, and ventilation was a majorinvestment in the lower level, with an energy recovery system supplying filtered outsideair to the gym.

Seventeen independently controlled climate zones, hydronic underfloor heating and a16kW solar system run through a Savant home control platform.

Between bush and village

Clifton Gardens, Taronga and the city

Burrawong Avenue sits in a part of Mosman where harbour bushland is close at hand.Walks lead to Clifton Gardens, Taronga Zoo and the ferry. Buses to the city are a short walk away, and Mosman Village is within walking distance.

Six years is a long time to spend on one house. Here it shows in the parts that took longest: plaster waxed by hand, brass shaped on site, stone carried in by hand. From every level, the harbour is still in view, and still moving.