Australian Vibes

A trove of original details awaits inside, including the sandstone walls wrapping the main living spaces on the ground level and the wooden beams above.

This countryside residence favors simple, sustainable moves over square footage, and strategically captures views without walls of glass.

Inspired by the sea and sand, Richard and Jackie Willcocks chose blue and orange joinery colors for their 1,140-square-foot prefab. The modular home is by New South Wales company ArchiBlox.

The two-bedroom, two-bath Courtyard House is located in a clearing in the New South Wales coastal suburb of Hawks Nest, just a few minutes’ drive from the beach.

Before: While doing construction on one house, Mairead Murphy and her partner bought the neighboring home (on the left) in an effort to save it and fix it up. That project has since been dubbed Next Door House #2.

With previous uses a butcher shop, grocery store, window workshop, hat shop, and a restaurant, the mix-and-match facade feels like an appropriate reflection of the renovated home's varied history.