Inside a Dreamy Beach House Designed For Easy Living (House Tour)

A considered interpretation of a humble beach shack, Copacabana Beach House is a simple, functional, dreamy beach house nestled along the NSW Central Coast. Polly Harbison Design combines robust materiality with a pared-back palette to create a house that is a private sanctuary enveloped by the coastal landscape. “One of the things we were really trying to capture is the spirit of a beach house, which is kind of a beach shack,” says Polly Harbison, principal at Polly Harbison Design. To achieve this, the dreamy beach house encompasses a simple form that captures views of the bush and beach while filtering out neighbouring houses. “The site is quite an unusual site – it&long, narrow and steep, sitting on the hilltop behind Copacabana looking towards the beach,” says Polly. Despite its simple form, the facade of the home is strong – a walled courtyard is visible from the laneway, leading to a “secret” timber gate that offers glimpses through to the courtyard and the beach beyond. “With a challenging site like this, it is the form of the building that can have the biggest impact on the microclimate and the livability of the space,” says Polly. As such, an L-shaped form creates a north-facing courtyard that captures the winter sun and allows the building to breathe. Similarly, the long, narrow form of the kitchen acts like a periscope to frame the view of the beach. “In this way, the livability of the site is greatly improved, but more importantly, the form of the building...