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Twin Peaks

With two roof gables observing the entry door, a Queen Anne style residence was brought back to its splendour with a renovation by Rosselli Architects that reveals its hidden character and history.

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  • 16 June 2016
  • Darling Point

Luigi Rosselli Architects redesigned a Queen Anne style residence in Darling Point, near Sydney, Australia. In contrast with a previous intervention on house, they opted for a more subtle “tummy tuck” and a general clean up of the original house. Some of the 70s and 80s additions were removed, and the original house was restored and enhanced. 

Top: Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia. Elizabethan leadlight windows are guarding the new entry. Above: The stair atrium was achieved by infilling a courtyard. The atrium links the lower ground floor living spaces to the first floor bedrooms and the attic level. Veiled behind the terracotta half pipe screens is the hallway running between the bedrooms

The only addition was an infill of the front courtyard set between the two gables. This addition houses the new entry and stairwell, instead of the previous sunken and squeezed side entry porch. The old Queen Anne now has a new hearth, with its early 1900s bricks, shingles and Elizabethan windows that have been a theatre for three generations of the same family.

Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia. A small archway leads to the laundry and cellar

A three storey atrium with a Piranesi inspired stair develops from the lower living room level to the upper attic. The stair is surrounded by the brick walls of what was once the courtyard, and the openings have been veiled by terracotta screens made of half round pipes, stacked in a fish scale pattern. The street entry is half way between the ground floor living level and the first bedroom floor. 

Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia

Double Bay and Sydney Harbour backdrop this venerable residence, being perched on a spectacular rock outcrop, ensuring that the bay is visible from all the windows. The new steel windows on the bay side of the house are shaded by a new balcony and roof structure with generous eaves and simple balustrades. Will Dangar’s landscaping introduced softness to a barren backyard with the creation of a terraced garden and the addition of an ancient olive tree and tall palms. Stephanie Conley’s flair for design has lent the interiors an elegant and cosmopolitan air, executed with meticulous attention to detail by Associate Architect, Simon Hassall.      

Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia. Right: through this archway the stair pierces the old courtyard wall and enters the attic space
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia. Left: this unusual window was inserted into the pre-existing shape of the gable and a generous attic room was reclaimed from the vast roof space
Luigi Rosselli Architects, Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia


Twin Peaks House, Darling Point, Australia
Program: renovation
Architects: Luigi Rosselli Architects, Luigi Rosselli, Simon Hassall
Contractor: GNC Quality
Structural and hydraulic engineering: Rooney & Bye Pty Ltd
Joint work: Sydney Joinery
Steel work: All Metal Projects
Roofing: VM Zinc
Lighting: Tangent Lighting
Tiles: Bisanna Tiles
Landscape: William Dangar Associates
Interior design: Stephanie Conley
Completion: 2016

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