HG MY IDEAL HOUSE
200 | AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN
<containing kitchen, living and dining
areas, that takes the form of an
elongated glass box.
“Getting the landscaping right isfundamental to Madeleine’s design,” >
says Andrew La, national housing
design director of Mirvac Design.
“Our aim is to create a home with
a seamless indoor-outdoor connection.”
The approach Mirvac likes to take intheir built communities, he says, is one
of blurred boundaries. “At the front of
the house, we avoid fences and go for
hedging that provides a visual perimeter
but doesn’t impede the homeowners’
view to, or interaction with, the street.
It just feels friendlier.”
The inclusion of the windowboxes inMadeleine’s My Ideal House design will
reinforce the concept of indoor-outdoor
connections. “The greenery within them
will soften the view out to the street, just
as it softens the view of the facade from
the street,” says La. The front yard must
be regarded as a semi-public space,
however the backyard should be
completely private, he adds.
In this property, a Hebel PowerFence
will define the backyard boundaries.
Formed from lightweight aerated
concrete panels it will then be softened
with plants. “I would love to see
evergreen plants and vines used right
along the fence line,” says Madeleine.
Stone tiling will run from indoors to
the undercover entertaining area for
visual continuity. In addition to the lawn
there will likely be a vegie garden and
a couple of larger trees, says La.
“The right deciduous trees can be
extremely useful in terms of shading the
house in summer and allowing light in
during winter,” he says. “They can assist
the sustainability of a home greatly.”
“A garden makes a house feel more
generous,” says Madeleine. “Even when
you’re inside, in the middle of summer
or winter, your rooms will always have
a dynamic and changing backdrop in
the form of your garden.” >GREEN IS GOLD
Aside from the visual delight
and sense of wellbeing gained
from a garden, attractive
landscape design has the
potential to lift the value
of a property, says John
McGrath, chief executive
of McGrath Estate Agents.
Lawn, in particular, can boost
your property value
significantly. In 2014, Turf
Australia conducted a study of
114 real estate agents that
concluded buyers were
prepared to pay up to $75, 000
more for a home with a lawn.
For about $2000-$3000 a
landscape designer can supply
a detailed plan showing hard
landscaping as well as
construction details, planting
instructions and the location of
all plantings correlated with
a list of plant species. Their
wholesale nursery contacts will
also save money when it comes
to buying plants.
Photograph by Nikole Ramsay/bauersyndication.com.au. Project by owners and Accent on Design.