Hand-Built by a Famed Queensland Architect, This Unique Abode Asks $228K

Situated on three-quarters of an acre in the town of Torrington in New South Wales, Australia, the 2/3-bedroom, one-bath house was built by the renowned architect in 1997. The real estate listing is now available on Modern House, asking $228,000, or $300,000 Australian dollars. The home merges with its setting naturally, as it sits on a granite outcrop with "underfloor posts bolted directly to the rock." 

At 59 feet long and 20 feet wide, the home's polygonal form is long and low-slung. It's bisected at the center, where a steeply-gabled ceiling reveals opposing clerestory windows, facing north and south. 

Oribin tucked the kitchen/dining space at one end of the house, and the bathroom/bedroom at the other, with the effect of the lower, angled ceilings in those places creating more intimacy. The interior walls are lined with built-in casework. 

At the center of the home, the living room is flooded with light from the high windows.

There are two external doors: one at the kitchen/dining area, and a second that exits the bedroom into a tube-shaped solarium.

Oribin practiced in Cairns from 1953-1973, becoming known for his churches, public buildings, and residences. In 2013, he was honored with the Enduring Architecture Award at the Queensland Architecture Awards. According to Modern House, "The greatest record of Oribin’s development as an inventive and original architect is seen in the progression of four houses that he built for himself and his family between 1957 and 1997," with this one being the fourth. Ownership of this property, an important component to Oribin's legacy, would be special.