Back To Nature

A Victorian family has created the perfect antidote to city life – a sustainable haven where the land meets the sea.

- John McDonald

Busy Melburnians Simone and David Kelly craved a place to escape to regularly. David runs a commercial law firm and Simone was a lawyer for 15 years until she took a break that turned out to be ongoing. She wanted to spend more time with her two stepchildren – Alexi, now 14, and Mariella, 11 – and “concentrate on other things”. Simone was looking for balance. “Family life is incredibly difficult with two full-time lawyers in the house,” she says.

They purchased the perfect property in February 2016, a 1.2ha plot near Fish Creek, just north of Wilsons Promontory, the southernmost point of the Australian mainland. Two thirds of the land was old-growth bush; the remaining third cleared except for a large metal shed with a shower and toilet. It was in the shed that they lived when they came down from Melbourne on weekends. “Along with spiders and rats and other creepy crawlies,” says David. “Plus it was freezing in winter.”

From the outset, the couple’s aim was to have modular-pod design firm Archiblox create a chic, comfortable dwelling for their weekend and holiday escapes. Simone admired the company’s work and David knew the director, Bill McCorkell, “so there was already a level of trust”, he says. The contract was signed in May 2017 and the design worked out in close consultation with Simone and David.