Perched on the edge of a 70-meter-high cliff in Dover Heights, just west of central Sydney, the Holman House by Durbach Block Jaggers is a powerful architectural response to landscape, art, and structure. Completed in 2004, this award-winning residence merges sculptural form with inhabitable poetry.
Inspired by Picasso’s painting The Bather, the plan is anything but conventional. The design features fluid, dynamic living spaces wrapped in a sinuous perimeter that arcs, folds, and stretches to follow light, view corridors, and the cliffside terrain.
Cantilevered Elegance Over the Pacific
One of the home’s most dramatic features is its cantilevered living and dining spaces, which project boldly over the cliff’s edge. From these rooms, sweeping panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean unfold in both directions, evoking a visceral connection between architecture and the elements.
The lower floor is constructed from rough stone, grounding the structure into the landscape and echoing the natural cliffs below. This base also supports a series of terraced gardens and a vase-shaped rock pool, designed to feel like an organic extension of the terrain.
“The perimeter is shaped in direct response to the landscape, sun, and the painting’s figurative forms,” – Durbach Block Jaggers
Recognition and Awards
Holman House has received significant architectural recognition:
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2004 – Featured in Sydney Open Historic Houses Trust Tour
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2005 – Winner, Wilkinson Award for Residential Architecture (NSW)
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2005 – Winner, National Award for Housing, Australian Institute of Architects
These accolades celebrate the project’s innovation, poetic form, and sensitivity to its exceptional location.
A House That Lives Between Land, Art, and Sky
Holman House embodies a philosophy of spatial flow and sculptural form, rejecting the rigid geometries of traditional residential design. The result is a home that feels like a living figure, shaped by natural forces, historical reference, and artistic imagination.
Holman House by Durbach Block Jaggers is more than a residence—it is a bold architectural gesture at the intersection of land, art, and sky. With a footprint inspired by modernist art and natural topography, it stands as one of Australia’s most iconic contemporary homes.
