Modern Architecture

Laminate joinery in the kitchen was one way Matt was able to save costs. It's a low-spec material but we treated it really carefully to make sure it was all quite refined."

“Where we let loose was on the window,” Matt says. “It’s an aluminium window frame, which is bushfire compliant and easy to install, but the way that we detailed it was about hiding the frame so that the eye is drawn into the space.”

Arriving at the cabin is now a joyous ritual. “Every time we push the gates back and see the view it’s this sense of ‘we’ve arrived’,” Matt says.

The cabin's corrugated iron cladding (Colorbond steel in "Windspray") riffs on the quintessential Aussie beach shack's fibre cement sheeting. When not in use, it can be completely closed off with a sliding gate.

The custom kitchen bench and dining table "felt like a splurge

The cabin hovers over the site on stilts, giving it a floating effect.

Kelli’s horses, many of whom are blind, locate drinking water with the help of a custom concrete aerating fountain. It’s quickly become a favorite feature of the animals: “They all congregate around it in the summer, and it's almost like they're having a meeting,” says Ford.

The property, including the barn, accommodates the horses’ impairments with wider-than-usual doorways and therapeutic mattresses in the stalls.

The climate-controlled feed room doubles as a place to relax with a cup of coffee or host guests for a glass of wine. The stone sink began as a planter that Ford imported from Italy and customized to function within the space.

The two chairs in the feed room are family heirlooms that first belonged to Kelli’s grandfather. He had them in what he called his rest space, which referred to the small cabin on their family’s farm in Burleson County, Texas.

The bathroom is finished with a marble shower that complements the marble countertops in the kitchen.

The dining table was designed and built by Ford using antique pine. The sculptural oak chairs are from the 1970s. They were sourced from the Netherlands with the help of local designer Hailey Kolbe.

For the countertops, Ford sourced distinctive Calacatta Viola marble from Italy.