Behind the listing: An original mid-century house drenched in natural light hits the market

• Owners: Disability support worker Carol Wake and her husband Richard, who is a manager in the energy industry and a director of a wedding event centre
• Address: 14 Kethel Road, Cheltenham, NSW
• Type of house: Spectacular 1960s house designed by architect Ken Hassall 
• Price: $1.7 million
• Auction: Saturday August 20, 11.30am

From its lofty position on a huge ledge of sandstone, No. 14 Kethel Road has been quietly gathering admirers.

“The first day we had it open, 74 groups went through,” says selling agent Belinda Hill. “It was ridiculous; that really doesn’t ever happen here.”

Along with the prospective buyers, there were builders keen to understand the house’s structural integrity, design-lovers fawning over its architecture and curious locals having a bit of a snoop.

SOLD - $2,125,000

14 Kethel Road, Cheltenham NSW 2119

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“We had that many hipsters lining up, it was quite funny,” Hill says. “But I love how well it’s been received. It’s an incredible house and I’m delighted that this style is being appreciated again and given the attention it deserves.”

The vendors, Carol and Richard Wake, were stunned. While they had fallen in love with the place on first inspection themselves, it had been its “feel” and natural surroundings that had tugged at their hearts most of all. 

“To be honest, we don’t know a lot about architecture,” Carol says. “But when we first turned down our leafy street, we knew we were home. 

“The sun was shining through the overhanging vines and trees, moss was growing along the road and, perhaps most memorably, three lovely bush turkeys were running along the footpath as we drove towards the house.”

Worth slowing down for (and many passers-by do), No. 14 has a triangular sandstone facade featuring a wall of windows, which looks spectacular from the street, but is even more arresting from the inside. Sunlight streams into an open-plan living zone, while an adjoining balcony maximises enjoyment of the natural surrounds and is an ideal corner for relaxing and entertaining.

Living here, Carol says, is simply “magic”. 

Set among eucalypts, the views belie the property’s location just 20 kilometres from Sydney’s centre. Lane Cove National Park sits at the end of the street. 

“We’re country people, we were moving to the city, and we were quite nervous about it,” Carol recalls. “As it turns out, it’s the most bush-like setting we’ve ever lived in. The house blends into the trees. We’re above the rooftops, up with the birds; it’s like we’re living in a treehouse.”

Indeed, that’s how Sydney-based modernist architect Ken Hassall intended it. Keen to move away from the boxy red brick of the 1950s to embrace a design aesthetic sympathetic to the natural landscape, he hoped to forge “a uniquely Australian character”, says the agent, Belinda Hill, who spoke with Hassall when selling his former residence in nearby Beecroft.

“There are a number of Ken’s designs around this local area, where he still lives today,” she says. “They are all incredible, and all unique.

“He often chose to build on blocks that others may have dismissed as challenging, because he wanted to maximise the natural light and the outlook of a house, and Kethel Road is the perfect example of that, with its massive sandstone foundation.”

Hassall’s legacy is further enhanced by the strict developmental rules that govern the area, which Hill describes as a “secret bubble” given its bushy scenery within cooee of the big smoke. 

With four bedrooms and a study, the Wakes’ house has served them well in their decade-long custodianship, with ample space for their adult children’s comings and goings. Content with the interior, which was renovated before their time, the couple have only added a covered outdoor entertaining space at the rear, where a flat back garden caters to green thumbs and ball games.

Everything else – including the floor-to-ceiling timber panelling and the gorgeous spiral staircase, both much loved by Carol – remains intact. 

“[Ken Hassall] is amazing, the way he was able to have the long-term view to have so much light flooding in and for the house to be so energy-efficient,” says Carol.

“I think it is really nice that his work is so appreciated and loved 60 years later. I hope that when he walks or drives past our home, he is really proud of his legacy. He should be.”