Fjell Heim
FJELL HEIM, 97 Gladstone Road, Leura OPEN Friday and Saturday only
Garden courtesy of Richard and Lesley.
Background
Fjell Heim was completed as a weekender in 1935-36 for Mr Niels Storaker (the then Consul for Norway in Sydney). During the early 1930s Niels Storaker was Managing Director of the Wilhelmsen Agency in Sydney. By 1935 he had developed tuberculosis, for health reasons Storaker and his wife moved from Sydney’s eastern suburbs to Fjell Heim in Gladstone Road, Leura.
The gardens surrounding the dwelling were designed and completed by local nurseryman and landscape designer Mr Paul Edwin Bielenberg Sorensen between 1936 and 1938. During this period, handwritten work-sheets detail planting schedules and celebrate Fjell Heim as ‘ a cottage in parkland’ - the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The great majority of Sorensens trees remain today.
Sorensen’s work is evident in Fjell Heim’s low stone retaining wall along the northern boundary and
sandstone flag terrace. The choice of tree species, particularly large conifers like Atlantic Cedar, Blue Atlas Cedar, Norway Spruce and Bhutan Cypress, likely reflects Storaker’s desire for a Norwegian landscape. Sorensen’s design might also be evident in the wrought iron gates and masonry pillars lining Gladstone Road. These pillars are topped with small statues of ‘Nisser’ – mythical creatures akin to garden gnomes with long white beards and conical hats. Scandinavian folklore tells of Nisser living in farmstead houses and barns as secret guardians protecting their inhabitants from evil. However, they can also be mischievous, short-tempered and easily offended. Traditionally, to keep the Nisse happy, they were given a bowl of porridge on Christmas night – hence the depiction. Interestingly, Nisse is common in both Denmark and Norway and is also a nickname for Niels or Nils.
Landscape development between the 1950s and 2010 principally featured the use of azaleas, rhododendron and the introduction of rare, unusual shrubs and small trees creating smaller, almost labyrinthine spaces,within the original parkland setting.
2026
Lesley and Richard purchased Fjell Heim in 2016. The house was largely intact suffering only recent minor renovations, yet the garden remained unkempt and forgotten. Fjell Heim felt like that old pair of jeans we have all had - evoking feelings of comfort, durability and a simpler time.
Our response was to remove noxious weeds, deadwood and dangerous trees then, replace those trees that required removal or had reached senescence with the same species. Finally undertake new work that would reinforce the Sorensen concept - ‘a cottage in a parkland’.
Dwelling
A symmetry within the public areas of the house and a central axis create a strong connection to the landscape. Doorways frame views, extending the internal space into the landscape, while externally the number of windows engage the landscape in a dialogue of syncopating enclosure.
The Landscape
Labyrinths have long been a favourite classical motif in garden art. Many of the existing trees, remnants of Sorensens work, underplanted with azaleas and rhododendrons are integral to the design. By 2010 the Fjell Heim garden had become a hedge labyrinth, measuring around 4,000 square metres, this remains a prominent feature in the garden.
New ‘Moss White’ Birch trees underplanted with box-hedging, black mondo and black iris replace the Silver Birch that once lined the driveway, complementing the blue cedar, old pine and conifer trees. Maples frame the main axis of the house and the grassy areas between the densely planted azalea hedges serve as paths or lawns. The varied topography of the site creates height differences of up to six metres.
The azalea hedges interact with these variations, offering a dynamic experience. Walking between the hedges or on the garden paths, some of which have steep gradients, reveals new sightlines and allows visitors to explore the garden in multiple ways. A wood-store co-joined with Hornbeam metamorphose as a ‘garden wall’, to manipulate space and frame views, becoming a ‘device’, an intervention that is found elsewhere in the labyrinth celebrating the magic of discovery.
Fjell Heim remains a work in progress.
Richard and Lesley
