ORANGES and lemons

The owners of this Sydney home were drawn to its old citrus trees, now enhanced with contemporary colour and texture.

- Words CHRIS PEARSON Photography FELIX MOONEERAM

Like the trailing plants cascading down a retaining wall in this property in Sydney’s east, its heritage house, garden and owners are fabulously and inextricably intertwined.

Though the garden is lush and seemingly random, the green-thumbed owner lovingly tends it, while the rest of the family lose themselves in it whenever they can.

These various strands have been woven together by landscape architect Evan Black of EBLA Studio, who has ensured the garden tips its hat to the so-called Gingerbread House with its fabled 1885 sandstone construction. “We were smitten by its handsome facade and the orange tree in front, bursting with fruit. We couldn’t believe our eyes,” says the owner, recounting the moment that she, her husband and their twin daughters encountered the property in 2021. At the back, it boasted lemon trees and dropped away with a beguiling view of the beach. “While we loved the citrus, it was loose and random, plus there was a chicken coop – charming but not us.”