H G houses
128 | AUSTRALIAN HOUSE&GARDEN
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ometimes,peoplethinkthey’vesettled
intoa homeforthelonghaul,onlytohave
anunmissableopportunitytochange
everythinginaninstant.ForDavidand
KarlyZacharia,spottingtheperfectsite
intheperfectstreetintheperfectsuburbwasa
gamechanger.“Weweren’tlookingtomoveatall- thehousewewerelivinginatthetimewasonly
fouryearsold.Buttheopportunitytobuilda house
withbeachviewsandnightviewsofthecitywas
anopportunitywecouldn’tpassup,”saysDavid.
Thesloping 405 m 2 blockhada knock-down
houseonitandwasripefordevelopment.Asthe
siteiselevated,thefamily– Karly,Davidandtheir
twodaughters,Lucy, 1 6,andRuby, 13 – decidedto
buildtheirhomeoverthreelevelstomaximise
enjoymentoftheoutlook;theslopeensuresviews
fromsurroundinghousesarenotimpeded.
TheZachariasengagedlocalarchitectScott
Bradleytodesigntheirnewhomeandcontracted
a localbuilder,DanielLedbury,toconstructit.They
hadtoovercomea fewchallengesbeforetheycould
turnthefirstsod,however.Sincetheareahadonce
beencoal-miningcountry,theriskofsubsidence
meanttherewerestrictregulationsaboutthetype
ofpropertyandmaterialsused.Theyhitanother
snagwhenunstablesoilanda largerockneeded
tobe removed.“Wealsodiscoveredthata
stormwatereasementwasn’tproperlyregistered
withthecouncil,andthatthewaterpipeswereold
andbroken.Bothissueshadtobe remedied before
movingahead,”saysDavid.
Outside,grey-beigebricksandColorbond
steelcladdinggivethehomeanuberstylish
face.Theinteriorisequallyimpressive,bothin
termsofdesignanddecoration.It’salsohigh-tech
thankstoa C-Bussystem that delivers complete
homeautomation.
Thesecondfloor– atstreetlevel– isgivenover
toanopen-plankitchen/living/diningareaand
adjoiningterraceinordertotakeadvantageofthe
home’sbeachandcityviews.DavidandKarly’s
luxemainbedroomsuite,guestroom,studyand
homecinema/musicroom.Thegroundflooris
Lucy and Ruby’s domain, accommodating their>^