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FEATURE LISTING: Contemporary masterpiece in Waterfall Gully

When relocating to Adelaide, Alexandra and Jared found a Waterfall Gully home that offered them a slice of Queensland architecture in South Australia.

When art curator Alexandra and her engineer husband, Jared, were relocating to Adelaide from Queensland in 2017, they quickly set upon an unusual and strikingly modern property.

“To be honest, it was the only property we inspected and we just fell in love with it,” Alexandra says. “I think we spent literally 20 minutes in the house before buying it.”

Situated in the picturesque surroundings of Waterfall Gully, this two-owner home is a slice of serenity only 15-minutes from the bustling CBD.

The bespoke three-bedroom, two-bathroom property at 177 Waterfall Gully Road, Waterfall Gully offers an open style blueprint with an astounding sense of scale and proportion.

The home was designed and constructed by Drew Edwards, a South Australian building designer known for creating modernist homes on difficult sites.

The house has been crafted with exposed concrete slabs and wrapped with commercial-sized anodised steel windows with Aneeta sashless frames.

“I think we saw a bit of Queensland architecture in it, as many of the large public buildings in Brisbane, such as the State Library and the Gallery, are very much concrete and glass,” Alexandra says.

The home has many earthy undertones, with lots of exposed walls, wooden fixtures and large windows that create a seamless flow between indoors and outdoors.

“Even though the house is quite forward-facing in terms of the road, all the windows are actually really private,” Alexandra says.

“It is almost all glass at the front, but because of the home’s elevation, it sits up enough that we can have all the windows open and nobody sees in.”

The sunken main living space includes a tailor-made modular lounge and recessed television, with the cosier second living space boasting a suspended open fireplace.

The entertainer-inspired kitchen boasts Miele appliances incorporating an integrated dishwasher, side by side fridge and freezer and teppanyaki hot plate, in addition to stainless steel worktops.

Secluded from the other bedrooms and with views across the front of the property, the master bedroom suite has extensive built-in robes and a lavish ensuite with underfloor floor heating on independent timers, a dual shower and European fittings and fixtures throughout.

Upon purchasing the property, the couple has done little in the way of renovations.

“It is a house that is complete; I don’t think it really offers many opportunities to change it,” Alexandra says. “It really is what it is and it does it well.”

Since moving to Adelaide, the couple has had a young son and found the property also works perfectly as a family home.

“We didn’t envision it as a family house, but it has actually been very flexible and adaptable to the changes in our lives,” Alexandra says.

In addition to appreciating the modern architecture and high-end fixtures, the family have started noticing the smaller elements of the home that make it so unique.

“I think it has taken a while of us living in the house to really appreciate the way that it sits in the landscape,” Alexandra says.

“It doesn’t try to dominate the landscape and doesn’t feel like the architecture has just been dropped in – it actually feels like it belongs to this site.”

Alexandra also admires the play of light throughout the house during the day.

“The windows beam these bright little rainbows into the house,” Alexandra says. “My son runs around and finds them all; little things like that are really lovely.”

The young family is selling their much-loved Waterfall Gully home in hopes of finding a small acreage to live on; a dream lifestyle for Alexandra after growing up on an Angus farm in Roma, Queensland.

“I imagine the next owner will be quite like us; when they see it upon inspection, they’ll just know it is right,” Alexandra says.

“I can see anybody finding real pleasure living in the home; it will flex and adapt to them just like it did for us.”

The sale is being handled by Jonathon Kiritsis and Matthew Paternoster of Williams Real Estate.

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