Architect Carla Middleton’s Beachside Family Home

Architect Carla Middleton’s beachside Sydney home is a perfectly balanced family nest filled with natural light and decorated with a palette of neutral tones and durable materials

Unlike with her other projects, architect Carla Middleton didn’t have to follow a brief for this project. Instead, she worked from the heart to design her family’s home in the beachside suburb of Tamarama in Sydney, in an area surrounded by parks and in walking distance to the beach. 

‘We had no children when we bought the property in 2012, so we spent our first year renovating the home,’ Middleton says. ‘We painted, sanded and stained the beautiful original timber floorboards, added a new temporary kitchen and made do with the horrible bathroom and laundry, which was tacked onto the back of the house. We spent as little as possible making the house liveable, since our long-term goal was to renovate the site.’ 

The time finally arrived after they’d had their first child and lived in the partly renovated home for a year, and in March 2019, just three days before their son Toby (brother to four-year-old Anna) was born, the family moved into their newly renovated, 210-square-metre two-storey house. With five bedrooms, three bathrooms and an office, the home offers each family member their own private space, while the ground floor allows a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living. 

The home’s architecture and interior design are a visual translation of the architect’s confident, warm, soft and practical approach. Middleton decided to open up the house to the outdoors after living with the what she describes as a ‘disconnect between the house and the backyard’. A palette of neutral tones like white, grey, oak and black ‘allows the natural light to cast shadows and dance along the surfaces,’ says Middleton. At the same time, ‘each family member can add pops of colour to reflect their personality,’ Middleton says, citing her daughter’s bright pink bed as an example.

‘The biggest challenge was remaining true to the design intention during the construction process,’ she says. The external fibre cement cladding was chosen for its affordability and ability to provide a strong pattern on a simple form, while inside, white walls in both plasterboard and face brick are complemented by warm oak floorboard that bring warmth to the spaces; soft linens add privacy and filter natural light. Middleton chose black accents in tapware, door handles and door and window frames to create contrast.

Inspired by the work of Japanese architects and their use of space, light and materials, Middleton decided to include roof windows in order to ‘connect us to the trees, sunshine, rain, clouds and stars, while also allowing privacy from the neighbouring buildings.’ Whether watching a movie in the living room below the big skylight, using the outdoor shower after a trip to the beach, or spending the afternoon barbecuing and playing in the garden, the family enjoys every moment here. ‘I believe your home should be your happy place and a self-portrait of its inhabitants,’ Middleton says.

Words / Karine Monié
Images / Tom Ferguson
Styling / Anna Delprat