|

Inside the Worlds Most Tranquil Home Hidden in Nature (House Tour)

ByMyProperty Life

Nestled in the valley of Howqua Hills, Howqua River Lodge celebrates the joy of off-grid living. Inside the worlds most tranquil home, Rob Mills Architects incorporates sustainable practices to honour a connection to the valley and inspire the family to embrace slow living.

The site of Howqua River Lodge was chosen partly for its remoteness and partly for its tie to Rob Mills, owner of the lodge and founder of Rob Mills Architects. “My father, who worked for the Forestry Commission, walked through the mountains measuring the available timber,” he says. “Each place I go to reminds me of an experience we’ve had over the years and these are good memories, really good memories.” The project accentuates the sweeping landscape by allowing only a glimpse inside the worlds most tranquil home; when viewed from afar, only one of its three pavilions is visible as the others are tucked behind the first. In addition, bright colours are omitted from the facade, allowing the structure to harmonise with the natural surroundings.

Read another article:Design Trends for Creating a Vacation Vibe at Home

In the first pavilion, the entrance is intuitively positioned to lead residents directly into the kitchen. “For me, the kitchen – where you eat and where you live and where you read – is the place that you want to arrive at first, not a formal entrance,” says Mills. “Then there’s a solid wall. To find that balance between wall and window is really important because it’s walls that cocoon us.” While the wall preserves the intimacy of the kitchen and living room, large-scale glazing enables panoramic views from inside the worlds most tranquil home. In the second pavilion, the living room experience is echoed in the two bedrooms with impressive open sightlines. Between the bedrooms are two bathrooms, each featuring a different stone, as well as a bunk room with single beds and a vertical divider. The final pavilion then contains a secondary living space.

Taking a bold approach to materiality, Rob Mills Architects used spotted gum interior cladding instead of the familiar blackbutt timber. “[The spotted gum] has this rich red colour, which I was concerned would dominate your experience within,” says Mills. “It’s so strong, but it works; it’s wonderful to live with. Its strength is the reason it’s wonderful to live with.”

Complementing the natural materials are other features that enhance the home’s sustainability, including solar panels atop each pavilion. The panels generate renewable energy not only for heating and cooling inside the worlds most tranquil home, but also for powering a range of external amenities. “We’re completely self-sufficient, yet we’ve got all these luxuries that you would find in the best city residences,” notes Mills. “They’re here: an ice tub, a sauna, a heated pool and all of these things we love.”

Read another article:Hot Trends: 20 Best Farmhouse Style Kitchens in White and Wood

Inspired by happy childhood memories, Howqua River Lodge allows residents to retreat inside the worlds most tranquil home while continuing to explore the landscape. With a considered residential design, Rob Mills Architects fosters a wilderness experience that builds the family’s confidence in living off-grid.

00:00 – Introduction to the Worlds Most Tranquil Home
01:27 – Self Sufficiency in the Country
02:02 – A Discrete Design and Layout
04:28 – The Strong Material Palette
05:09 – Combining Off Grid and Luxury
06:58 – Lessons Learnt from Nature
07:40 – Favourite Aspects

For more from The Local Project:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thelocalproject/
Website – https://thelocalproject.com.au/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-local-project-publication/
Print Publication – https://thelocalproject.com.au/publication/
Hardcover Book – https://thelocalproject.com.au/book/
The Local Project Marketplace – https://thelocalproject.com.au/marketplace/

Read another article:Revamped Small Barcelona Apartment Combines Multiple Styles and Finishes

For more from The Local Production:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thelocalproduction_/
Website – https://thelocalproduction.com.au/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelocalproduction/

To subscribe to The Local Project’s tri-annual print publication see here – https://thelocalproject.com.au/subscribe/

Photography by Anson Smart.
Architecture and interior design by Rob Mills Architects.
Styling by Jack Milenkovic.
Filmed by The Local Production.
Edited by HN Media.
Production by The Local Production.

Location: Howqua Hills, Victoria, Australia

The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.

#Nature #Home #HouseTour

Similar Posts

  • PDC House

    The design strategy of this house is based on a commitment to artisanal constructive honesty, the respect towards natural context in an urban area, and the constant search for a way of inhabiting where material austerity provides spatial quality. The main body of the house is located in the southern boundary of the land, respecting the 3 preexisting fruit trees on the north side and taking advantage of the best ventilation and natural light possible. The program, which includes 2 bedrooms, social area, a family room and services, is condensed in a monolithic block to reduce its footprint. As a main strategy, the upper roof tilts 21 degrees, prioritizing the northern bedroom spaces and reducing the southern service spaces. The subtraction and rotation of a middle segment generates a shift in between the upper floor bedrooms, allowing cross ventilation, as well as the accommodation of rooftop equipment and the plumbing and electrical ducting. In section, the composition allows the circulation of north-south winds, cooling the kitchen by the hot air escape achieved through height differences. The constructive solution contemplates material honesty in all the elements. The concrete walls on ground floor, pured with recycled formwork, give an imperfect finish consistent with the roof’s austerity, but contrasted with the cleanliness and volumetric continuity of the upper floor finish. To reduce economic impact, ceiling and floor finishings and tilings were completely eliminated using bare concrete floors and, in order to express the constructive and structural performance, the roofs use a system of bare concrete joists in combination with vaulted pieces, designed and manufactured using a mold made with local artisan blacksmithing.

  • Burnt Cedar

    This is a full-time beach house for a car passionate family of four situated across from Burnt Cedar Beach in Incline Village, Nevada on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. Prior to being pulled up the hill to flumes and rails destined for Virginia City, logs were staged here as the mountains around the lake shore were logged during the silver mining years of the 1860s. Set into a neighborhood originally built in the 1950s and bordered by houses to the sides and rear, the house takes a simple box form, half buried into the slope. It faces the lake with full height glazing that encloses a loft-like plan with double height living spaces. The clients requested a space that felt like the landscape and maintained a feeling inside of being outside in the light and shadow play of the sixty to ninety-foot Jeffrey and Ponderosa pines that populate the lake shore.  Perforated wood ceilings and acoustical plaster walls soften the sounds of the concrete and glass pavilion-like house. An underground garage is excavated under the house with level access to the street, a must in this snowy climate for a family with an eclectic car collection.