Location: Wanganella
Year: 2020-23
Status: Complete
This c1870’s homestead is situated in the middle of the Hay Planes and was recently handed down to the next generation of the farming family. The young family wanted to put their stamp on the home and make it a place you really want to be in. The nearest towns are an hour away so having a place you are comfortable being in and around was very important.
The original home and its outbuildings (cooks quarters & station store) were constructed in rammed earth 150 years ago. The home was ‘clad’ in brick when this came into fashion early in the 20th century. The mass of these walls helps to maintain a comfortable internal environment in what can be a harsh climate.
The owners decided that in addition to tidying up the existing home, they would need a new pavilion style addition that incorporated a master bedroom suite, kitchen, living and dining areas. An existing pool would be removed, along with 2 sets of 70’s additions housing a farm office and kitchen. The old home would be allowed to stand free and proud again, with the exception of a small connecting link to the addition. The verandah could once again wrap around the whole building.
The pavilion sits a few metres from the edge of the verandah, on the eastern side of the home. The linkway has been designed to allow free flow through via 2 pairs of doors (to let the kids scoot and ride all the way around)
The link also forms a new ‘informal’ entry to the home, bypassing the old front door that leads past a series of bedrooms. From the link you step into a large open plan space housing kitchen at one end and dining and living spaces flowing out to a verandah, lawn and new pool at the other. Behind the kitchen sits a large farmhouse pantry, kept cool in the centre of the structure. On the southern side is the master bedroom, robe and ensuite. A smaller verandah space occupies the south eastern corner.
It was decided early on in the process that the addition should also be a rammed earth structure, albeit in modern stabilised form. The architecture needed to sit quietly amongst its fellow collection of buildings. These were still wearing their original whitewashed rammed earth skins, so it was decided that the new structure and the brickwork skin of the home should be whitewashed to carry through a common finish. Seeing the rammed earth in its raw form changed all that, and it seemed a shame to cover it up.
The pavilion sits comfortably next to its older sibling. The new kid on the block - familiar but very much a modern interpretation.
Interior Design: Hunt & Co Instagram images
Builder: Mullins Building www.instagram.com/mullinsbuilding/