Artistic impression: A home that inspires
Former Adelaide Festival artistic director Rachel Healy says living in her Stirling home has been like a “once in a lifetime privilege”.
Not only has it been a much loved family home, but also a soothing sanctuary where vendor Rachel Healy can escape the hustle and bustle of working life in an environment that inspires her artistically.
The former Adelaide Festival artistic director and her partner, composer Alan John bought the home in 2015, attracted by its location and – given the couple’s school-aged children – its pool.
“I had just been appointed artistic director and was flying here from Sydney quite regularly and we’d been looking at lots of houses in the hills and I’d seen this one online but the inspection was very close to the time I was due to depart for Sydney, but through some miracle I had time to come up and inspect it and walked in and just fell in love,” Ms Healy says. “I just knew immediately. It felt like it was built in a botanic garden, with huge cathedral ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows and you’re looking at trees every which way you turn. The birdlife up here is stunning too and it is incredibly peaceful and restorative. To have that connection with the natural world is just incredible.”
The home sits on a 2043sqm allotment and has up to five bedrooms – or four and a home gym – numerous formal and informal living areas, a lower level rumpus room, an under-house storage area and an inground pool surrounded by a paved alfresco area.
“It’s a house that is completely designed for a family and there are so many spaces and entertaining areas which was very important for my job too,” Ms Healy says. “Having visiting international artists here and having people coming over – it’s perfect for that. My children said they were only prepared to move to Adelaide if they could live in a house with a pool, and they’ve loved that. It had everything we had hoped for and more, and it’s easily the best house I’ve ever lived in. For a house that has so many enormous windows, as they did in that era, it’s surprising how many great expanses of wall there is for art, and I’m a really passionate advocate for people buying art from living artists and I like to practice what I preach and a lot of our art is from emerging artists.”
With one son heading for Melbourne and another about to finish year 12, Ms Healy says it is time for a change and is sad to say goodbye to their Stirling home.
“Living here really has felt like a once in a lifetime privilege,” she says.
Price: Contact agent.
Agent: Harris Real Estate, Taylor Bishop 0409 256 092 and Colby Harris 0484 329 283.
Originally published as Artistic impression: A home that inspires