Three Garden House: A Serene Retreat Surrounded by Nature in Adelaide Hills

The Three Garden House by PARABOLICA is a residential sanctuary designed for clients in the twilight of their lives, celebrating a lifelong passion for gardening. Located in the picturesque Adelaide Hills, this home seamlessly integrates the surrounding landscape, creating an immersive and introspective experience for its inhabitants.

Designed to center life around a lush courtyard garden, the dwelling prioritizes calm, connection with nature, and spatial simplicity. Every aspect of the design focuses inward, fostering contemplation while maintaining a strong relationship with the outdoors through generous protected glazing.

Design Challenges and Budget-Conscious Solutions

One of the central challenges of the project was achieving a high-quality architectural outcome while adhering to a modest budget. This limitation influenced key design strategies, prompting the use of economical construction techniques without compromising aesthetics or functionality.

Initial studies reimagined the traditional hipped-roof, brick-veneered home by inverting its arrangement. This innovative approach centralized rooflines, gutters, and downpipes, decluttering the exterior while creating a taller, more reductive building profile. Functionally, this layout organizes space around a central courtyard, establishing a visual and spatial focal point within the home.

Spatial Organization and Materiality

The home’s floor plan is rectilinear, with circulation wrapping gracefully around the internal garden. Large glazed areas provide continuous visual access to greenery, enhancing the sense of immersion and tranquility. Interior spaces feature light-filled, muted interiors, allowing the exterior landscape to remain the primary focus. A subdued material palette complements the greenery, contributing to a peaceful and contemplative environment.

From the street, the house presents a simple rectangular form. External walls are clad in clay bricks finished with a traditional sand-cement-lime bagging technique, offering a singular and textural surface. Vertical articulation is achieved through dark-stained cedar cladding around entries and window openings, emphasizing understated elegance.

Gardens and Landscape Integration

The front garden features native trees and plants that harmonize with the surrounding Adelaide Hills environment. Beyond the street-facing facade, the property serves as a working garden, hosting a diverse array of flowers, fruit trees, and other plants. Many of these were transplanted from the clients’ previous garden, preserving over 50 years of horticultural legacy.

This approach creates a home where architecture and landscape are inseparable, reflecting the clients’ deep connection to the land and their lifelong commitment to gardening.

Three Garden House is a masterful example of thoughtful, budget-conscious residential design. It combines sustainable materials, textured brickwork, and landscape integration to create a serene, inward-focused home that celebrates the beauty of everyday life and the intimacy of nature.

All photographs are works of  Pier Carthew