Scone, NSW
Winner of Invited Competition
Winner of HIA/CSR Australian Home of the Year, Hunter Home of the Year, Custom Built Home of the Year and Most Efficient use of Water.

2001 - 2005
The site is exposed and dramatic, commanding a series of vistas over the Kia Ora Stud, the Segenhoe valley and distant mountains. The owner was particularly interested in developing an architectural solution that understood the uniquely Australian qualities of the place and held an invited competition to test approaches by four different Architects. The final design evolved from the conceptual base of the winning scheme.

The approach road and arrival sequence are carefully planned to heighten the drama of the site. The full scope of the outlook unfolds only after visitors park, walk along the screened pathway and enter the house. Once inside each room reveals its own special relationship to the setting, either a dramatic vista or intimate outlook to garden or landscape.

The homestead, out-buildings and associated enclosures generate a series of outdoor spaces, each with its own character and offering choices between sun or shade; shelter or exposure; active or passive use.

The building is carefully fitted into the contours, with field stone, dug from the site itself, facing the base and walls, anchoring the building to the hillside. The long folded roof forms which hover above, follow the lines of the hill making the building feel at one with its setting.