Grand architectural Stirling abode
Designed by renowned architect Pauline Hurren, this Georgian-style Adelaide Hills masterpiece is on the market for the very first time.
When Marcia Phillips and her late husband Garry began building their Adelaide Hills home in 2011, it was only meant to be a “little escape”.
Garry, who was an intensive care physician, had recently retired and planned to use his time writing a history of intensive care in Australia.
The couple had been living in a large historic home in Aldgate, known as Cricklewood, and what was intended to be their new “little cottage” at Stirling soon turned into something much larger.
“For us, it was a project … something we could do together,” says Marcia, a retired doctor.
“Initially we only wanted a little escape … but of course, the architect said, ‘Well, one always has to consider resale value … three bedrooms are better than two, and two bathrooms are better than one’, and it went on like that.”
Marcia tells SALIFE the location was a major drawcard when choosing somewhere to build.
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“It looks over the coastline from the Bluff at Victor, swings around Encounter Bay, down around the Fleurieu Peninsula. You can see Kangaroo Island on a clear day,” she says.
Marcia and Garry enlisted architect Pauline Hurren, who passed away in March, aged 90. The home was completed in 2013 and is set on a generous block of 3002 square metres.
Marcia says the houses along their street are named after saints, so they decided to continue the tradition by naming their home St Roch.
“St Roch is the patron saint of illness, so we thought that was appropriate in one way, and then he was also the patron saint of dogs – we had a little dog – and finally, the property was built on solid rock,” says Marcia.
The couple originally planned to build a two-storey home, which was not permitted under council regulations.
They decided to focus on creating a grand reception hall with an equally grand staircase leading to a mezzanine area.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home includes a spacious living and dining area, as well as a library and a conservatory with panoramic views of the leafy surrounds.
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The property’s steep slope and rocky outcrops posed a challenge for the home’s construction.
The house originally had a balcony with a six-foot drop. But deciding that was too dangerous, they had the area filled in with earth, making for a gentler slope.
For the interior, Marcia and Garry drew from their 50-year collection of antique pieces.
“I joke sometimes when I say it was all designed around a French chateau lantern. That wasn’t totally true, but of course, it was a good story,” says Marcia.
In the garden, Marcia’s favourite part of the property, you will find lavender hedges, roses, Manchurian pears and more.
Marcia says she planted small cuttings from their other property, Cricklewood, drawing on nursery advice she learnt from conversations with her patients.
At 84 years of age, Marcia has decided her acre-wide garden is too large to maintain and has moved into a retirement living residence.
Marcia says she will miss her plants the most, including a special rose named after one of her granddaughters.
“There’s a rose that I created called Lucy’s Star, which was given the tick by the National Rose Trial Garden. My son had twins 13 years ago, and Lucy didn’t survive. So … my son’s other children used to go find a star to talk to Lucy,” says Marcia.
The sale of 20 Spencer Street, Stirling, is being handled by James and Bronwyn Lindsay of Toop + Toop.
