Ocean Road, Manly

This double-brick Federation home built around 1907 — sandstone base course, verandah ironwork, the full detail - had a garden that offered nothing to match it. Flat, bare, and bypassed.

The brief was threefold: resolve the street edge with a boundary treatment that felt contemporary but respectful of the home; create a space the household would actually use, not just pass through; and honour the Federation architecture without recreating it.

The checkerboard tile path inside the home's entry became the reference point for the new front path — extended and curved to create a proper sense of arrival. A rendered masonry wall and capped timber fence now sit in quiet dialogue with the sandstone base course. A semi-mature olive tree was sourced and planted as the garden's centrepiece, giving the space an immediate sense of permanence that a newly established garden rarely achieves.

An L-shaped raised bed in rendered besser block wraps the olive tree, with a cantilevered Spotted Gum bench built into the corner — the seat the client asked for, designed so it belongs to the structure. Uplighting beneath the bench and low spike lights through the beds extend the space into the evening. On the opposing side of the path, a Corten steel-edged bed introduces a warmer material note, planted with sculptural, low-maintenance species.

The client wanted a front garden that finally matched the home it served. That's what we built.