Houzz Tour: A Shed-Style Home Frames Views and Blends In
This rural home in southern Australia uses clean lines and sustainable strategies to achieve striking results
This home in Trentham, Australia, just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne, demonstrates innovative sustainable design. Designer Timothy Ellis of Glow Design Group first met clients Kane and Lea Brown in March 2014 at a Speed Date a Sustainability Expert event and found they shared a similar vision for beautiful, sustainable living.
Their main goals for the design of the home were to use local materials, orient the home for site views, optimize natural light, use passive heating and build a house that blended with the style of buildings common to the area. The resulting home, completed in 2015, achieved all this and fits in with the rural architecture of the landscape while presenting its own contemporary slant on a shed design.
Their main goals for the design of the home were to use local materials, orient the home for site views, optimize natural light, use passive heating and build a house that blended with the style of buildings common to the area. The resulting home, completed in 2015, achieved all this and fits in with the rural architecture of the landscape while presenting its own contemporary slant on a shed design.
The house features two wings joined by a corridor, which runs adjacent to an expansive wood deck with views of the landscape.
Entry to the house is from the two-car garage opposite the master bedroom. Adjacent to the garage sits a 15,850-gallon-capacity steel water storage tank. A small hallway leads past a mudroom and laundry room into the main corridor.
Natural blackbutt lounge chairs: Weylandts
Entry to the house is from the two-car garage opposite the master bedroom. Adjacent to the garage sits a 15,850-gallon-capacity steel water storage tank. A small hallway leads past a mudroom and laundry room into the main corridor.
Natural blackbutt lounge chairs: Weylandts
The corridor is set up to appreciate the view of rolling fields and to open up to the deck via a large double-paned door provided by Binq. The hall has floorboards that are on battens. At the end of the corridor, views are perfectly framed and aligned with living room windows.
As you walk into the living room, high ceilings and expansive views make the room feel bright and open, which is one of Ellis’ favorite design features. He and the clients created a three-dimensional computer model from survey points and successfully positioned the home to avoid the wind and block views of the distant neighbor’s home.
Views of the rolling hills are framed to the inch. Captured by careful computer work, and on-site checking prior to the slab pour, the window placement offers perspectives made for gazing. The upper highlight windows are power operated and externally vented.
Fireplace: Nectre; rug, pillows and throw: Weylandts
Views of the rolling hills are framed to the inch. Captured by careful computer work, and on-site checking prior to the slab pour, the window placement offers perspectives made for gazing. The upper highlight windows are power operated and externally vented.
Fireplace: Nectre; rug, pillows and throw: Weylandts
Recycled wood beams throughout the home were sourced from a local schoolhouse. Blackbutt timber features in the kitchen framing and in many of the finishes. The ceiling here is lower than in other parts of the house, creating a sense of warmth and coziness. The Ilve double oven is an expensive piece but prized by the homeowners.
Ellis suggests going neutral if possible for fixed surfaces and dressing up with colorful prints and furniture. “It is a lot less expensive than chasing a design novelty that you have to replace when the trend goes away — for example, retiling,” he says.
The home has been decorated with simple pieces of furniture that don’t detract from the architecture.
The home has been decorated with simple pieces of furniture that don’t detract from the architecture.
Sliding barn-style doors open from the corridor into the guest rooms. When open, the sliders offer views from the bed to the open plains. The doors are again provided by Binq. The room interiors are furnished with rugs and bed linens by Weylandts.
The desk in the guest room is a built-in covered in blackbutt veneer to match the overall wood treatment. The lamp, made by Patturn in Geelong, Australia, was a gift to the clients; the shade is printed with the house design plans.
In the master bedroom, wood paneling gives the headboard some charm. The windows are triple-paned and lined up to frame a 100-year-old blackbutt tree.
In the bathroom, natural light from a skylight for good for makeup application. The upper mirrors hide additional power outlets for shavers and hair dryers. Light is also borrowed from the exterior via a stud wall opening that is aligned with exterior windows.
Tile: Di Lorenzo and Perini; sinks: Caroma; shower fixtures: Marc Newson, Caroma
The house has received many accolades in Australia, including recognition from BDAV Best Sustainable Design, the National Building Design Awards, the Interior Design Excellence Awards and the Green Interior Awards - Shortlist.
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Who lives here: Kane and Lea Brown, both marketing professionals, and their two young children
Location: Trentham, Victoria, Australia
Size: 2,723 square feet (253 square meters); three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Designer: Timothy Ellis of Glow Design Group
Ellis worked with builder Rick Egan to create an off-the-grid house on the vacant lot in Trentham that the couple had acquired. Other environmental initiatives included sourcing local products to eliminate the need for transport during construction, employing local labor and using low-VOC paint, LED lighting, reverse brick veneer and rainwater tanks. It’s also been designed for a cold climate, aiming to insulate the homeowners from the elements while creating comfortable interior temperatures.
The color palette was inspired by natural finishes and materials —wood and stone on a neutral base — so the textures would not compete. Inspiration came from local sheds in the area that Ellis photographed, along with publications on Australian and American sheds. The durable BlueScope steel exterior siding adds to this vision. Blackbutt wood, native to the area, meets the requirement for fire resistance and softens the steel with contrasting texture and warmth.