BRIDGING THE GAP

An architect pulls off a modern Australian take on Hamptons style with this coastal family home in Victoria.

- Bethan Lacoba

The rich landscape of this Bellarine Peninsula site in Victoria was what drew the owners to the location of their new family home. A lake and wildlife reserve lie to the north, open coastline to the south, and civilisation is close at hand with the neighbouring golf courses, a beach and a local township nearby.

Mark and Rachel bought the land in 2019 for their family (which includes their three teenaged children and Bailey the Australian Shepherd), then contracted Madewell Studio to design their dream home.

“Mark wanted a modern home. Rachel, who’s originally from England, was drawn to more traditional forms, particularly North American architecture,” says Campbell Doughty, principal at madewellstudio. He'd spent six years working in New York, often on New England-style homes - what we refer to as Hamptons style - which appealed to the couple. But they wanted more than just a ‘copy-paste Hamptons look with a few modern features’.

Campbell set to work overcoming challenges beyond Mark and Rachel's differing tastes, such as navigating stringent conditions set by local council. But these just added to the character of the final home. “Significant landscape protections played a big role in shaping the layout and positioning of the house,” he says. “It was a juggle, but the natural landscape was exactly what drew them to the site.”