The kitchen captures classical design notes in the joinery profiles, vintage Italian chandelier from Conley & Co and Enoak oak chevron floorboards. But the Aegean Green marble island from Margraf is the star. Benchtop in Aquila marble by Margraf, Joseph Giles Buxton brass cup handles, La Cornue CornuFe 110 oven, Miele cooktop and Brodware Winslow kitchen mixer. Also featuring window furnishings by Simple Studio, custom joinery by Lawless & Meyerson and a clay vase by Jodie Fried from Studio Gardner.
At this Sydney residence, Lawless & Meyerson rewrites classicism using proportion, stone and shadow.
The Lookout is an inter-war Mediterranean residence, reimagined by Lawless & Meyerson with a respect and appreciation for its old-world charm. The Lookout takes the hallmarks of classicism—Corinthian columns, decorative cornices, softly arched openings—and reinterpreting them through a contemporary lens, letting restraint take the lead over ornament.
The home is in the highly sought after pocket of Point Piper, sat on a cliffside with views across the Sydney Harbour. Though not heritage listed, the renovation was approached with the discipline of a conservation project. Original doors, skirtings, architraves and plaster wall sconces have been restored or painstakingly replicated. Less visible is the structural ambition, which sees three new levels carved into the rock below, leaving the street silhouette untouched.
More than anything the various natural stones and marbles carry the narrative throughout the home. Margraf marble appears in nearly every room—an Aegean green island is the centrepiece of the kitchen, Calacatta Viola wraps the powder room in operatic veining, and at the lowest level a Roman-bath-inspired pool is lined in pale green marble and limestone chequerboard. Each piece was cut and numbered in Italy before being shipped to Sydney. In the primary bathroom, the heritage condition is matched with custom-tiled Amarillo Triana marble, its honeyed yellow echoing the ceramics once found in the house.
The breakfast nook includes a custom banquette seat with a Corta rectangular dining table and Jakob leather dining side chair, both from RH. The space also features an existing vintage plaster wall sconce, window furnishings by Simple Studio and teapot in the manner of C.Dresser from Studio Gardner.
Three levels were carved into the cliffside, keeping the street façade untouched—this means the upper levels of the home are flooded with natural light. The living area features the Armadillo Palus rug in Anise, Tacchini Pigreco dining chairs by Tobia Scarpa, 1960s Modernist guéridon with adzed top from The Vault, Awa Brutalist lounge chair by Dittman and Co from Studio Gardner, Fragment side table II by Jumandie Seys from Studio Gardner and ‘Transfiguration’ sculpture by Scott McNiel. Other pieces include the Cupola Carved Rectangular dining table, Cortona sofa, Saville Linear chandelier, Sanders task floor lamp, Ciro coffee table and a marble plinth, all from RH.
Elsewhere the mood is luminous: white walls, classical plasterwork, aged French oak flooring underfoot and linen drapery to diffuse the morning light. The kitchen balances refinement with nostalgia—a La Cornue cooker, vintage Italian chandeliers, and a custom tufted-leather banquette that tucks into the breakfast nook.
A dramatic shift happens in the primary bedroom, though. Here, all the rules are broken. Conceived as a sanctuary for sleep, it’s saturated in moody, near-black tones—walls in Porters Paints’ ‘Furnace’, dark-stained joinery, deep plush carpet underfoot. After the brightness above, the effect is enveloping, almost nocturnal. It’s a deliberate counterpoint that captures physiological needs but does so in a highly emotive expression.
The Lookout is the product of a near five-year collaboration. The result wears its history with a insouciant ease: classical in its bones, contemporary in its confidence, and unafraid of the occasional dark turn.
The lower level is flooded with a Barrisol ceiling light. Marble lines the arched doorway, bringing traditional design cues with the checkerboard flooring—all stone from Margraf.
The main bedroom suite takes a decidedly dark turn. Intended as a place for deep relaxation, the inky darkness makes it a cocooning retreat. Custom carpet, joinery, bedhead and bedside tables designed by Lawless & Meyerson are complemented by the Serge Mouille Antony wall light, Cultiver Heavy Linen bedcover, roman blinds by Simple Studio, Porter’s Paints in Furnace and an antique Japanese ceramic vase from Studio Gardner.
The main ensuite is drenched in sunny, vintage-toned yellows, referencing the heritage tiles found in the original room. Custom stone tiles and slabs in Tradewinds Travellers Amarillo Triana Marble by Sibella Court for TeraNova are paired with a Brodware Winslow basin mixer, Galerie MCDE Simple Sloping Block wall sconce by Pierre Chareau, custom mirror and soap dish by Michael Verheyden.
