A weekend house

From the house, in Mont Martha, the feeling of living at the top of the forest. Further afield is Port Phillip Bay, one of Victoria’s gems, in Melbourne. Beyond its magnificent views, this creation by Bryant Alsop centers around the pleasures of its guests: gastronomy, wines and receptions.

Designed to balance the dual desires of a semi-retired couple, this mansion, which overlooks Port Phillip, Melbourne, is as hospitable as it is intimate. Built to be a weekend house, it emphasizes reconnection with oneself and nature. A challenge as to its rental in a residential suburb. So it revolves around two contrasting levels. The open space on the ground floor, designed to accommodate guests, is built around a central, curved, stone wine cellar. On the first floor, on the other hand, a feeling of an apartment closed to the urban world, but open – thanks to its roof that plays with transparency, its large bay windows and its terrace – to nature and its multiple panoramas. On the ground, formal and solid materials, in alternately neutral or dark colors. Upstairs, plenty of light, light wood and soft textures on the walls. Pushed to its limits, at the corner of its street, construction takes precedence over its connection with its environment. In this way, it is adorned with a wild garden, which connects to it via a sloping terrace, the greens of which are reflected in the cellar wall or the carpet in the bedroom in the loft suite.