Guy and Jules Sebastian purchased their home in the Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra in 2013. Looking to create more space for their growing family as well as to host visiting family and friends, the singer and stylist/presenter couple initially planned to renovate the existing ageing house but subsequently decided to demolish it and rebuild their forever home.

Appreciative of the modern look, Guy and Jules commissioned Joe Snell of Snell Architecture and Interiors to help them create their dream family home.

The Sebastian family home

Above the sliding door, the monochromatic colour palette continues with white Stria cladding in the 325mm board profile

Uniquely modern

The glamorous couple, who have two boys, Hudson and Archer, wanted to create a modern home that was truly unique and unlike anything they had seen before.

“Both Guy and Jules have a great sense of style and a real eye for design, and thus their brief was strong and simple,” says Joe, who worked closely with the couple on the house design.

“This was to be their forever home and they wanted a modern restrained palette using concrete, steel, glass, black and white. Of course, it had to be warm, friendly and comfortable as well.”

Striking the right balance

Guy and Jules wanted the house to be “tough yet inviting”. The design had to ensure privacy from the front but flow into communal living spaces – such as the tennis court and swimming pool – and evoke a sense of freedom and openness.

“We wanted the space to be functional and family-friendly with the ability to entertain but still snuggle on the couch at the end of the day,” they explained.

Much care was taken to ensure that all the materials used in the build were applied thoughtfully. Joe says: “The concrete panels, the black steel and windows with panoramic glass, and the white cladding were the key elements that were the simple yet strong features of the design. Each has a different strength and feeling, and they are arranged to complement and enhance each other, and come together as a whole.”

It’s a modern look that blends the classic with the industrial through the use of raw materials, a minimal aesthetic and the integration of timeless elements such as terrazzo and marble.

Guy says they particularly love the front foyer of their home. “It takes our breath away every single day. The spiral staircase, polished concrete floors and grand piano are just heaven. We love playing and singing in that space and filling our home with joy and music.”

Working together

Collaboration, consultation and research helped to ensure the success of the new build. This involved visits to showrooms and design stores, lots of time spent on Pinterest, along with many in-depth conversations and ongoing updates between Joe and Guy and Jules throughout the course of the project.

“Listening and responding is the key to the design process,” says Joe. “Guy and Jules were the main inspiration, as we talked at great length about what they wanted in a home and what they were inspired by.”

The couple attributes Joe’s immense eye for detail and artistic sensibility to bringing the look together. “Joe asked us a lot of questions about our lifestyle and what we wanted from our family home. We seriously cannot believe how incredible an artist he is and how much he nailed the design.”

Cohesive application

Joe believes that clean lines and confident styling that lacks clutter are an integral part of creating a truly modern look in a home. He notes that James Hardie designed fibre cement products are well understood by builders and have many different finishing details to choose from to achieve the look.

Stria cladding 325mm was used for the main house and painted white. “We wanted to achieve a horizontal look in the white cladding, so we staggered the minimal vertical joint so that it was lost further allowing the horizontal to be even more dominant,” Joe explained.

Stria cladding comes in 4.2-metre long boards that slot together with a shiplap joint on the long edges. The boards are made from low density Scyon formulation fibre cement, which allows them to be 14mm thick. As a result, deep and distinctive horizontal grooves are created to provide the clean lines that suit modern design.

The end result is a house that both blends in and stands out in its beachside location. “The house is on a long hill of neighbouring houses of many different styles and genres,” Joe said.

“The building has its own identity but is not out of place in the street. The natural colouring of the concrete and monochromes of black and white settle the house into its suburban coastal environment.”

A striking and functional family home

The Sebastian family is enjoying their new home very much. “The home is built for entertaining with the two living areas opening up to a central courtyard with a fire pit,” Guy and Jules explain.

“There’s loads of space for the kids to play too, including their own living area that we can see at all times. We love our family and friends and want them to bring their kids over and feel comfortable that there is room to run around but we can still keep an eye on them.”

The house is everything the family hoped for. A unique, functional and modern home with plenty of space for their boys and visiting friends and family and a place they love living in and spending time together.

Architecture & Design Team

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