Bellarine Hillside House

Freehand Projects was engaged to design a new house for a retired couple on the Bellarine. Nestled under the canopy of a remnant stand of mature Bellarine yellow gums, the house was located in a semi-rural environment. A steep slope and the pull of expansive western views over Lake Connewarre, plus the need to protect the endangered trees made this a challenging site.

With the help of the landscape architect, we identified a suitable house site and developed a future-proof layout with the main living areas and master bedroom accessed from the high side of the slop. Service spaces, storage and guest accommodation were cut into the hillside below.

The palette of materials is inspired by the subtle colours of the coastal landscape, with the primary structure of laminated timber frames angled to follow the slope of the site and anchored via core-filled concrete masonry walls.

Inspired by the Arizona house and studio built by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930’s, these angled frames are designed to direct westerly breezes over the house and create a calm, protected zone on its leeward-side.

Internally, the house is lined with plywood to create a warm contrast with the off-white concrete masonry, while carefully detailed angled windows present unobstructed treetop views westward over the Bellarine Peninsula.



BUILDER                    Construction 32

LANDSCAPE               Tim Nicholas Landscape Architecture
+ Sam Cox Landscape

PHOTOGRAPHER       Steph McGlenchy

JOINERY                       Scott Grayson

WINDOWS                   Pickering Joinery

FIREPLACE                    Cheminees Philippe Australia

CARPET                          Godfrey Hirst