Adelaide's Most Unusual Houses

by Dave Walsh (subscribe)

Which is Adelaide's Most Unusual House?



Adelaide has a wealth of housing styles, from your bog standard post war austerity homes of the fifties through to magnificent mansions, and two storey Tuscan piles.

But there are some houses that simply do not fit into the standard South Australian urban style classifications, nor even bear any resemblance to others around Australia.

Let's take a look at some of the more interesting houses in Adelaide, although I will also include others from all about South Australia.

Adelaide Hills Face Zone Houses



The Adelaide Hills Face Zone commands some spectacular views of Adelaide's metropolis, and has long been sought after by the more affluent so that they can overlook us mere worker drones.

A Sunday afternoon cruise to Mount Osmond will allow you to sigh longingly at the passing parade of architecturally designed structures. Or not, in some cases.





In places the gardens are so lush and overgrown that it is not possible to even discern the existence of a house. Is this a new form of green home perhaps? In some cases, the only clue to a residence is a driveway, usually marred with an ugly "Keep Out" sign.





When architect Chris Watkins built his Adelaide Hills house, he wanted it to blend in to the surrounding environment as much as possible. Covering the exterior of the house with a thin veneer of copper has produced a rich dark brown colour which will slowly change with time.

The final colour of the house will vary depending on the location and what it is exposed to, but the results are sure to be interesting and unusual, if not unique.

More Adelaide Hills Haciendas



This house looks almost like a chalet - while very much at home in Adelaide I feel it could be transported to the Swiss Alps and not be out of place. I'm not convinced the colouring is perfect for blending in, but I still like the appearance of the house.



My next house is environmentally friendly in that it is well stocked with solar panels. And without a doubt it is a green building. But is this place a house. What do you think?



I didn't even notice the house this time, but the idea of taking a swim in a pool with views all over Adelaide does have a certain appeal. Perhaps they would like a house sitter?



Another very modern house, but does it blend in with its surrounding environment?



My last selection from the Adelaide hills is another house that blends in well, at least from some angles. Made of modern materials, it is best described as a rectangle with rounded corners. When I Googled that shape in an attempt to find a word to describe the shape, I discovered that Apple has apparently patented it. Could this building be confused with an iPad?



One advantage of the house is that there is virtually no garden to speak of. But I don't think I would like to be the pole painter.

Environmentally Friendly Green Homes



One of the best examples of building green to a sustainable design can be found on Sturt Street in the city. Christie Walk is an urban village of green homes designed by architect Paul Downton to be environmentally friendly.



The 27 dwellings are part of a sustainable building complex, and their designs are highly unconventional. There is a roof garden which acts as a thermal buffer in addition to providing a place of pleasure for residents.

Large areas of the buildings are shaded by climbing or hanging plants, which are selected for their low water requirements. Buildings are positioned to maximise natural light, and passive insulation is extensively used together with double glazing for windows.



There are a multitude of other features designed to minimise the community's environmental footprint. A small alley at the entrance to the precinct houses the Christie Walk Story Wall, describing the history and goals of the development.

For an even better look, book a tour of this sustainable development for a small fee. It looks great value if you are interested in sustainable design.



Classical Mansions in Adelaide



Despite the best efforts of the Weatherill government and Heritage Minister Caica to eradicate any architecture that remains standing from previous centuries, we still have a scattering of beautiful old mansions. Sadly it seems Parliament House is exempt from demolition.

In this article I will touch on a few only. I don't think that they are necessarily the best, but they are grand mansions and well worthy of being more widely seen.

Carramar (once known as St Margaret's) has already been covered in a previous article, but its future is seriously at risk because the government needs to recoup some of the ridiculous overspending that the fat cats of the Health Department incur. While other organisations incur "deficit" or "debt", the SA Health Department merely suffers "cost pressures". This in no way prevents spending more money, it just means scheduling another trip to Treasury to get a top-up.

The National Trust have highlighted Carramar in its Heritage at Risk program. It will be a great loss for SA if the government allows this beautiful State heritage listed home to be replaced by a seven story office building.



State heritage listed Olivet House, originally known as Wachenappee when built around 1900, is a magnificent mansion sitting on about 6,600 square metres of beautifully landscaped grounds in Stirling.

A grand and elegant large family residence, the elaborately decorated formal entrance leads to equally formal sitting room and a dining room suitable for entertaining the corporate board.

The garden features terraced hedging, many old mature trees, a tennis court, and is a delight to wander. You can see a very early 1900 photo of the original landscaping here.



I am grateful to Jonathan Kissock and Jamie Brown of Bernard Booth Real Estate for their assistance with the above images.



Urrbrae House is a historic mansion built in 1891 in the Urrbrae Precinct, and the entire Precinct area is well worth a visit. For more information about Urrbrae House, read this article.

It too is a classic example of an early Adelaide mansion, and the University of Adelaide take very good care of it and use it to entertain VIP's .



Cummins House doesn't really qualify as a mansion, having started life as a cottage. Subsequent additions have combined to give it an unusual and attractive character. But this place is steeped richly in South Australian history, and is surrounded by delightful gardens well tended by volunteers.

To visit Cummins House is like stepping back in time, as the interior is well preserved and many of the contents are original from the period when the house was in use by the original owners.

Find out much more about Cummins House in this article.

Simply Very Unusual Houses



Once upon a time, many years ago, a man named Derek Jolly bought a new house to live in at North Adelaide. Now Derek was a little unconventional and also moderately wealthy, so he chose a Futuro "space ship" home to land in North Adelaide.

The Futuro house was made in the 1960's and early 1970's and was a round prefabricated house originally designed as a ski cabin by a Finnish man. It was quite popular originally although ultimately only less than 100 were made.

It certainly polarised opinion at the time, but after his death the house was sold and has now "flown" to a remote location at Deep Creek, somewhere in the Cape Jervis area.

You can learn rather more, and see a picture of the Futuro in its original location here.



Now Adelaide's modern homes are not to be outdone by a 50 year old, even if it does look like a UFO. Architect Max Pritchard has pushed the envelope to come up with some very unusual but practical designs.

What do you do If your block of land has a creek running right though it? No problem, take a look at this.

How to get the best views for a new house in the Barossa Valley? Just build a 60 metre long house made mostly of glass! This amazing house was featured on Grand Designs Australia series 3.

Take a look at the Pritchard website and check out some of the truly unconventional designs.

Of course Max Pritchard isn't the only Adelaide architect to produce an off the wall design. Take a look down in Port Elliot where architect Shane Hendriks has come up with something highly unusual.

Looking a little like a child's set of building blocks after being stamped on, this house is a showcase for Terraçade tiles - a new light weight and low maintenance building product. I'm not sure what it would be like to live in it, but it does make me feel a little seasick just looking at it for a while.

So there is my selection of Adelaide's more unusual homes. Do you think you can better it? Have you seen something even more funky or unusual?

If you have, tell us about it in the comments.

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Why? See weird Adelaide houses

When: Anytime

Where: Adelaide, SA

Cost: Free

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