I wanted a beautiful house made of simple materials that could cope with the conditions. Up here, life’s about enjoying the environment but the weather dictates proceedings. On good days, we’re out skiing or horse-riding and on bad ones, well, you need an especially good house to be in.

Rob Brown of Casey Brown Architecture and I sketched out some initial designs and, surprisingly, the final result is pretty similar. It was always going to be a split level—a refinement of an obvious solution for the site. Rob had previously designed the nearby shed and stables and the house fits in perfectly with them. All three are finished in natural timber, concrete, and steel.

We’ve got views of the mountain range with sunlight in winter and the right shading in summer. There’s direct access from the garage to the interior which is helpful when it’s sleeting or worse.

The central slab between the floors is heated by a wood-fired boiler in the stable building and there’s a large open fire in the middle of the living room with plenty of firewood available on the property.

Fresh produce can be scarce so we included a large air-conditioned pantry, several fridges, and a freezer as well as a section for the wine collection.

Project Architect Caroline Kite, did a great job. She was able to convince me to include some things that might not have been my first choice, like the skylights and the Vola tapware. I’m glad she did.

Site manager, Steve O’Ryan, who I’ve been collaborating with since 1980, took control of the build. The central stairs were done by Scott Waller. Steve, Scott, and the whole team did their usual excellent work. Someone asked me about the biggest challenges of the project but I really can’t think of any. There are no challenges if you know what to do.

It’s satisfying to have the main house finished but there will be more to come, maybe some new horse shelters. For now, I’m a very happy client.

We were briefed to design a practical, working farmhouse, simple in form and materials. It would be the latest of three modern farm buildings on the property. One of the challenges was to address its relationship to the previously constructed stable and shed.

Situated on a little knoll, the new house has a subtle feeling of primacy. The siting allows for some panoramic views of the mountains through the vast north-facing glass. In contrast to the first two buildings, whose outlines roughly follow an A shape, this new structure inverts that to a V. When viewed together, the three sit comfortably into their surroundings. They’re not competing with each other and yet there’s a clear hierarchy between them. At ground level, each has weathered steel ends and corrugated galvanised steel wrapped walls. At the roofline, they share the eave-less, gently-rounded transition from horizontal to vertical. The small framed openings are carried over from the stables to the house to offer vistas of the bushland surrounds.

Within what is quite a simple box, there’s a place for everything—the cars, the entry, the service area, the main bedroom and guest rooms, a small office, a wine cellar, and the sauna. Uncomplicated but with all the trappings of farm life in the right order for coming and going.

We were able to play with one of John’s fascinations and something he is probably Australia’s leading expert in—off-form concrete. This knowledge and skill demanded to be exploited. Fittingly, it manifests in the sculptural central stair that leads up to the living areas and down to the bedrooms and steam room. Three steel tubes above the stair house coloured skylights. As the sun moves across the sky, they funnel spotlights of varying shades onto the surfaces below. It’s a bit of fun but also practical and rather striking.

The beautiful junctions between glass, wood and concrete were achieved by the site manager Steve O’Ryan and his team. Steve is Bellevarde’s longest serving builder and John’s long-time friend and collaborator. The perfectionism seen in the detailing largely comes down to Steve’s skill and hard work. It can be seen in every item. He has outdone himself with the exceptional level of craft. Project Architect Caroline Kite, did a wonderful job. She worked closely with us and with John, taking everyone’s ideas and meticulously ensuring the detail for each was fleshed out. Quite an accomplishment.

Looking back at the original sketches we did, it’s remarkable just how closely matched the finished buildings are. John knew what he wanted. Having done it for decades for other people, I imagine it would have been incredibly satisfying and rewarding for him to build this property up for himself. Especially when he is experimenting, as he always does, and creating something so unique and special that still manages to fit within the vernacular tradition of rural Australia. There’s nothing like this.