Australia Trends Home AU New Home Trends Vol. 30/10 | Page 92

Painting
a picture
These indoor and outdoor
pool settings call to mind
other times and places

These pages: Art Deco interweaves
with the Italianate in this pool, spa
and massage space. The recreation
area takes up the entire basement of
a grand home designed by architect
Richard Landry. Travertine walls and
floors evoke the Italian aesthetic,
as do the fluted columns. However,
the stepped ceiling, colourful mosaic
mural and wall tiles all evoke the
exuberance of the Roaring Twenties.

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Architecture has the ability to transport the
mind to different locales or even imply a history
where none exists. A column here, a stone-clad
wall there and the subconscious does the rest.
Two lavish pool environments – one in a
basement games area and the other outdoors
– form part of a stately residence designed by
architect Richard Landry, with interiors by
designer Joan Behnke. The owners had wanted
an Art Deco-style house, but neighbourhood
design guidelines required an Italianate look.
Landry’s response was to include influences of
both – with Italianate detailing on the exterior,
and a mix of Italian and Art Deco on the interior.
“The family entertain on a grand scale so the
pool and games room is comprehensive, and
both accents are carried through on this lower
floor,” he says. “Art Deco-like elements include
the stepped ceiling and mosaic wall panels. An
adjacent steam, spa, and massage space features
a seaside mural, also in mosaics, that evokes the
same period. The Italian influence is seen in the
travertine stone surfaces and fluted columns.”
While the house has a formal style, albeit
with modern accents, the pool cabana and guest
house offer a different appeal.
“The guest house is a complete departure
from the style of the main house,” says Landry.
“The idea was to create a visual story, implying
that when the house was built an existing barn
structure on the land was repurposed. However,
this large, rustic building with a hand-applied
stone finish is in reality brand new. It includes
a guest suite with balcony, a covered loggia, a
tower and a fire pit.”
From the rear of the house, the guest house
and cabana can be seen directly across the pool.
With its two-storey suite on one side and curved
stair and tower on the other, it has the presence
of a massive sculpture. And as with any artwork, it required balance – one side’s rectilinear
form speaking to the other side’s curved shape.

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