Last August, Ray and Roz moved into their newly built home on Bar Beach.
Designed magnificently by Stephen Gray of Liquid Architecture, the two-bedroom two-bathroom (and one powder room) house was built for just the two of them, with plenty of room for their nearby family when they dropped by.
Ray and Roz had never hired an architect before, but they knew what they wanted.
"The weather is unforgiving here," Roz says. "My words were 'build me a ship.'
"I think I said 'a submarine'."
With double brick and cement floors, the house has been built for the conditions, but that doesn't mean it's lacking in creativity or style.
Under the huge skylights, the tiles stand out. Roz told Gray she liked square lines and wanted a white house. He added the black pieces and his decision made a difference.
"If it was all white, it would have been very boring," Roz says. "Stephen is amazing."
Ben Rayfield of Rayfield Constructions managed the 18-month project. He describes the house as ultramodern.
He loves Gray's architecture.
"It was an amazing block of land and the house matches perfectly. You've got the best finishes and so much creativity, the best kitchen bench, the best tile," Rayfield says.
The skylight over the stairs is 4.2 metres x 1.3 metres. It, and the smaller one, both were craned in.
Roz loved how Gray's and Rayfield's skills complemented each other. They often created custom-made designs.
Rayfield's proud of his copper work. They bought vertical copper strips from a Sydney wholesaler and played around with them, creating handrails, feature blades, the water feature and the leading edge of the stair treads.
The tallowood front door also has copper inserts.
Look at the house from Park Avenue and it's quite square, but from Bar Beach carpark, you'll see it has 26 different angles. The roofing and cladding is an aluminium product imported from Germany, and the panels were custom rolled, taking three months to install.
Roz has been renovating for a long time, but this is her first house built from scratch.
"It's all about location. This block came available with a little old house on it which was beyond anything you could renovate. It had to be demolished, and we said yes we have to build something. I didn't think it would happen, (but) we're very fortunate we went down this track," she says.
After many renovations, Roz was determined to simplify the process. She jokes it's the lazy way of doing things.
"The kitchen benchtops and the bathroom benchtops are done with Corian, all in one piece, meaning I didn't have to go pick basins. We have renovated and looked at basins: you pick a round one, or one that sits on the top, an oval one, a sunken one. There is so much stuff out there, it is mind boggling and I love it all." Roz says.
"You can be tempted in so many ways to do something because it's all out there and all so beautiful."
She had so many options selecting the taps, but she finally went for all brushed nickel because they would never date and were beautiful, understated and simple.
The glass tiles are consistent throughout the house. She didn't want hallways to make the space seem bigger. The house has full-height doorways with sliding doors. None of the doors, wardrobes or drawers have handles. She didn't want curtains or pendant lights. She picked huge tiles for the bathroom to eliminate grout and there are no glass shower screens.
Roz had furniture and antique pieces in storage, so she needed the house to be blank and empty to work with all her décor. Gray made it happen with detail, space and tone.
For the first time she can display her mother's handmade shoes, her grandmother's furniture and pieces she and Ray bought when they married 50 years ago.
It was a big and overwhelming process, but now that Roz and Ray are in, they're thrilled with their new home and how great it was working with Gray and Rayfield. The two men went above and beyond to make the pair happy, and now Ray and Roz can relax while enjoying their views of the beach and sky.
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