Vive la EVOLUTION

When a landscape designer and his family decided to put down permanent roots, it was the perfect time to plant a spectacular garden.

- Elizabeth Wilson

Sydney landscape designer Anthony Wyer and his wife Rebecca recognise potential when they see it. When they bought this property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs almost six years ago, it wasn’t exactly their dream home. But with constant fine-tuning, this design-savvy duo has produced a home and garden that reflects their style and perfectly fits the needs of their family – Hugo, 12, Darcy, 10, Hazel, six, and Connie, five.

On their own admission, buying the home wasn’t exactly a well-researched purchase. In fact, they “came across it by mistake”, says Anthony. At the time, they were living on the Northern Beaches and had only casually contemplated the idea of moving. But the idea quickly took hold: they saw this house for sale on a Saturday, looked at it on the Sunday and bought it on the Monday.

The 20-year-old, two-storey house had been passed in at auction and was calling out for an update. Perched high on a large corner block, it was decorated in the manner of a European villa, with brown exterior walls and now-dated French provincial-style interiors. Significantly for this garden-focused pair, the home lacked an indoor-outdoor connection and the greenery was minimal, consisting only of lawn and hedging.