Rock solid architecture.

For architect/owner Kerry McGrath, that was the point. The site was never something to overcome. Its constraints became the basis for the design.

“Its position beside the rock face and the lane sitting above provided the complete driving force of the project,” Kerry says. “The rock face provided a beautiful lightwell to the stairs and bathrooms.”

The result is an unusually direct piece of residential architecture: compact in footprint, generous in experience and carefully calibrated to its surroundings. The levels allow the house to rise towards the lane above, while a series of courtyards, terraces and decks extend its footprint outdoors. Clerestory windows bring northern light over the neighbouring property, while a lightwell opens the interior towards the rock face without compromising privacy.

There is very little here that feels ornamental for decoration’s sake. The architecture is raw, practical and quietly expressive, reflecting Kerry’s approach to design and the circumstances in which the house was built. 

“I think on face value the house is a reflection of its site,” Kerry says. “A small footprint, three storeys to reach the lane, windows facing north to obtain solar access over the large northern neighbour, and using the lightwell in front of the rock face to full advantage,” Kerry explains.

The story began with the property as a single dwelling. Kerry bought it with two friends, Michael and fellow architect Julie, with the intention of creating a second home on the rear portion of the site. Julie contributed to the original design concepts, but life shifted the project in another direction. Around the same time Kerry met Rick, a plumber and roofer whose practical ability added a new dimension to what became a highly hands-on build.

“Rick being a plumber and roofer with skills in zinc sheeting added another dimension to the project and allowed us to do much of the construction ourselves,” Kerry says.

The building process became as formative as the finished house. Early in her career, Kerry was beginning an exploration of steel construction and connections, working closely on sustainable ideas with her father, a structural engineer. With materials lowered from the lane above, every decision had a practical consequence.

“The project allowed me to really explore steel design elements and connections,” Kerry says. “My dad and I worked together on reducing the structure to the least amount of steel possible. It was a rapid learning curve in steel construction, but also in building processes, which has really shaped my career and the way I approach design with a buildability mindset.”

That philosophy is legible throughout the house. Structure is not hidden where it can contribute to the character of a room. Openings are positioned for light and outlook rather than symmetry. Glazed doors create a continual relationship with the outdoor spaces, while corner windows, louvres and overhead panels draw fragments of the landscape into the interior.

Separate wings allow spaces for retreat and entertaining, while the three-level plan creates a sense of progression rather than simply stacking rooms vertically. The primary bedroom has its own adjoining terrace; living and dining open towards outdoor areas; and the lower level expands into a particularly generous sequence of interior and exterior space.

Kerry describes the house as having a deceptively expansive quality.

“It has a great feel. Everyone that comes in comments on it,” she says. “It is like a Tardis. It appears quite small from the front but opens into spacious rooms and outdoor spaces, especially on the bottom floor. It really provides an oasis.”

A sense of community is also part of what makes this pocket of Annandale particularly appealing. Despite its immediate access to Booth Street, schools, parks and major transport routes, the topography creates a surprising separation from the city around it. The lanes feel intimate; the surrounding streets are leafy; and local life happens within a remarkably compact radius.

The architecture responds to that same duality. It is urban in its density and economy, yet feels removed once inside. Light arrives from above and around corners. Outdoor spaces appear at different levels. The quarry face, rather than being concealed, remains visible and gives the interiors an elemental quality that would be impossible to reproduce elsewhere.

Now, after years of designing, building and living here, Kerry and Rick are ready for another chapter, with a new house underway in the Blue Mountains. Selling the Annandale home means passing on something that has been unusually personal: not simply a house designed by its architect, but a home shaped by her own evolving understanding of how buildings should work.

For all its stories and architectural intelligence, what remains is a home that catches the sun, opens to the air, protects its privacy and makes an unlikely piece of rock the centre of the experience.

The result is a home that feels less like an object placed on a block than a piece of architecture that could only have happened right here.

View the listing: 2 Susan Lane, Annandale