Does symmetry work as a feature in home façade designs? He Said/She Said
The grandest of hinterland listings on the Gold Coast, Bellagio La Villa, is home with a symmetrical façade behind which is some 2,546-square-metres of living space.
The recent sale of the luxury home got our property contrarians Jonathan Chancellor and Margie Blok thinking about symmetry in suburban housing design.
Some weekends see symmetry dominate the top seller lists, such as late March when eastern Melbourne estate agents secured the sale of three homes within close price and location proximity, at 21 Monash Avenue, Balwyn; 30 Wills Street, Kew and 4 Mt Ida Avenue, Hawthorn East.
Ofcourse it doesn't have to be as flash as the Bellagio La Villa or other top sellers.
Though symmetrical design in architecture is evident in landmark buildings around the globe including the Pantheon in Rome, the Taj Mahal in India, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Opera House in Sydney.
Symmetry (from the Greek συμμετρία symmetry) is all about "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement." There's also the accompanying vague sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance.
Here's a small range of houses with mirror image façade s.
HE SAID: YES, NO, YES
- The $450,000 timber Corinella bungalow comes with terrific symmetry.
It is an appealing classic period home in a quiet fishing village in Vicoria's Westernport Bay district.
The four-bedroom cottage (pictured below) sits on a block at 11 Walpole Street which ideally would be bigger from an aesthetics point of view
Inside there are high ornate ceilings with big ceiling roses. Upstairs is the large parents retreat upstairs comes with Bay and French Island glimpses and a new fabulous claw foot bath in the second bathroom, a second ensuite and a double spa.
The grounds have landscaped gardens, red brick paved walkways, Federation style carport and huge jarrah split level "u" shaped outdoor alfresco deck and entertaining area out the back.
It is for sale through Russ Williams at the Alex Scott & Staff agency.
- The three-bedroom home at 10 Outlook Drive Camberwell (pictured below) recently sold for $1.282 million by Fletchers came with a symmetry which I'd suggest doesn't work.
The three bedroom rendered 1945 brick residence sits on a limiting 650 square metre block which just doesn't do justice to the offering.
From either side of the fence.
It previously traded in 2008 at $780,000. It comes with the prospect of adding a second-storey which would maximise city views and change its proportions. The house was marketed as having great bones, but its exterior doesn't currently work for me. A compact garden with more than the stand alone fountain would assist, I'd suggest.
Ofcourse it can also be on many hectares, like Bellagio La Villa on the Gold Coast hinterland, and still not work.
- I especially love the pool house at The Palladio (pictured below), a secluded wonderland at Arcadia listed through Darren Curtis at Christies International.
With 30 acres, it is being advertised as one of North Western Sydney’s most significant and impressive private estates with beautifully manicured gardens and rolling lawns. It comes complete with a tennis court and landscaped pool that showcases the classic yet simple Palladian-style architecture style.
The outdoor area includes an 82-foot swimming pool with a glass mosaic finish in classically inspired gardens. Its outside walls are rendered to look like what you would see in Italy, that's been there for 100 years. The two sphinxes in front of the pool house are vintage reproductions. Owner Tim Higgins, a furniture retailer, told the Wall Street Journal when it featured as dream home of the day recently that he purchased a 33-acre plot of bare bush land in Arcadia in 1987 for $175,000.
The pool house mimics the main home (top image) which is more columned perhaps than necessary. It is for sale at $3,950,000. Higgins advised the Palladian-style home was built in the extravagant 1980s.There are only two bedrooms in the 4,305-square-foot main house.
SHE SAID: YES, YES, YES
There’s no denying the symmetrical façade of this Melbourne mansion gives stature and importance - it makes a very bold statement indeed.
Set in Toorak’s Maxwell Court, one of the suburb’s most coveted addresses, the grand two-storey house (pictured below) is for sale at $5,695,000 through Marshall White Armadale agents, Marcus Chiminello and Nicole French.
With its highly ornate façade featuring classic columns and arches, the European-inspired luxury residence is surrounded by beautiful Paul Bangay designed gardens with a lap pool.
With this property, the symmetry extends into the front garden and plantings with rows of potted plants and hedges framing the entrance. A stone path, which forms a centre line leading to the front door, draws the eye to the centre of the building and reinforces its symmetrical pattern.
- In the South Australian suburb of Norwood, this imposing Georgian inspired mansion has a mirror image façade showcasing classic symmetry and the grandeur of a bygone era.
To my mind, its striking façade establishes elegance and significance before you step past the front door. Built in 2000, the two-storey residence was listed for sale at $2.45 million through Ennis Partners North Adelaide, but it’s now under contract.
Of impressive proportions, it has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, formal and informal living and dining areas and a loggia, multiple courtyards, cellars and a six-car garage.
- Set for auction tomorrow through McGrath agent Shad Hassen, this three-bedroom Victorian house has a perfectly symmetrical and original front façade with a centered front door and windows evenly spaced. Set in the Sydney suburb of Stanmore, it also features a symmetrically designed modern extension at the rear.
With tremendous street appeal, this Corunna Road home evidences a tried and true design solution to create balance, both externally and internally. Built in the late 19th century, the house has been enhanced and enlarged with the new extension reinforcing the original symmetrical layout.
