Hamptons chic meets Pittwater charm at $3.6 million offering

Clareville’s days as an isolated fishing village are long gone. Today, the beachside suburb overlooking Pittwater is a magnet for trophy-home hunters with a penchant for water views and lashings of coastal charm.

This five-bedroom beachfront home opposite Taylors Point Wharf started life in the 1950s as a humble cottage called Siesta. It’s decidedly less sleepy these days, after undergoing an extensive renovation by former owners Meredith and Richard Rasdall using materials carefully chosen for their old-school charm.

A modern steel structure was formed around the retro cottage to create three north-facing levels, including generous al fresco spaces with point-blank views of the bobbing boats. In the open-plan living area, a fireplace made from hand-cut sandstone makes a dramatic focal point. Sandstone features on a ground-floor terrace, too.

With its Hamptons-style facade and pared-back interiors, the home is a study in coastal cool. Wide timber floorboards add to the laidback beachy vibe, although this isn’t their first time around the block. The blackbutt boards were once floor joists in an 1800s wool-store building on Kent Street in the city. If you look closely, you can still find marks from the original nails on the edges of the boards.

For the dining room, five double-hung windows with leadlight designs were salvaged from a Federation-era home in Balgowlah. The best views in the house are from the upstairs main retreat, where glass doors open onto a balcony with water views. The 349 square metres of internal space also includes a home office and ground-floor rumpus room and studio.

Outside, lush tropical gardens were a labour of love for Meredith Rasdall, who runs a private art school on the northern beaches. The daughter of a horticulturist, she planted more than 100 species in the garden, including rare plants and a showy fan palm. 

James Baker of McGrath Pittwater says the current owners Kate and Giles Merry are moving to the Sunshine Coast, where they’ll run their brand experience group Yukasan remotely.

They shelled out $2.65 million when they bought the home from the Rasdalls in 2015. The maritime setting continues to inspire the former owners’ daughter Gemma Rasdall, an emerging artist who paints seascapes on recycled sailcloth – when she’s not restoring her own yacht.

Baker says the Pittwater market has experienced a surge in popularity this year.

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193 Hudson Parade, Avalon Beach NSW 2107

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“There have been some recent sales in the area of similar properties that have attracted huge inquiry, as this seems to be the style of home that people want in Clareville,” he says. “Coastal charm, quality and character is what everybody is chasing.”