Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Gentle, Quiet Farmhouse Extension Suits Owners Just Fine
This Mornington Peninsula home doesn't need to show off – its redesign is all about enhancing lifestyle and taking in the views
Like many of the homes built in the late 1960s, this Mornington Peninsula farmhouse was a simple, single-storey brick veneer bungalow that was ordinary in every way. Far from taking in the glorious valley views, this low-set L-shaped home hunkered close to the ground and was designed in such a way that the living areas were cold and the vistas blocked off. The owners, a retired couple, wanted to enjoy their glorious location with new living areas that were more in touch with the surrounds. They called on architect Noxon Giffen to design them an extension that wasn’t showy, but would allow them to live the quiet life in complete comfort, and accommodate their large extended family when they visited.
Noxon’s brief was to design an addition that would house a new living, dining and kitchen area, as well as a separate pool and garage facilities.
The bedrooms and support spaces are located in the original dwelling, while the living spaces are in the addition. Cathedral ceilings and an open-plan design give the extension a light, open feel – quite a difference from the original home’s low-set ceilings and closed-off rooms.
Noxon says he’s proud to have “enriched the owners lifestyles in a low-key manner and exceeded their expectations.”
Colombus sofa: King Furniture; Artemide Tolomeo lamp: Lighting55; fireplace: Mezzofocus
The bedrooms and support spaces are located in the original dwelling, while the living spaces are in the addition. Cathedral ceilings and an open-plan design give the extension a light, open feel – quite a difference from the original home’s low-set ceilings and closed-off rooms.
Noxon says he’s proud to have “enriched the owners lifestyles in a low-key manner and exceeded their expectations.”
Colombus sofa: King Furniture; Artemide Tolomeo lamp: Lighting55; fireplace: Mezzofocus
The stained Victorian Ash floorboards continue from the original home into the extension to tie the old and the new together.
Ingo Maurer Zettel’z 5 light: Space Furniture; Wall paint in ‘Natural White’: Dulux
Ingo Maurer Zettel’z 5 light: Space Furniture; Wall paint in ‘Natural White’: Dulux
A butler’s pantry behind the main kitchen provides plenty of extra storage and bench space for food preparation.
Noxon designed the extension to connect with the outdoors. The detailing and materials are deliberately restrained to ensure the colours and textures of the ever-changing landscape dominate the interiors.
“A single floating fireplace element provides focus to the living spaces while the kitchen/pantry pods add further spatial definition,” he says.
The Mezzofocus fireplace has been given pride of place on a custom-built concrete base.
“A single floating fireplace element provides focus to the living spaces while the kitchen/pantry pods add further spatial definition,” he says.
The Mezzofocus fireplace has been given pride of place on a custom-built concrete base.
“The owners love how the extension connects them to the landscape and all the different aspects of their site via intimate domestic courtyards and ponds to long-distant vistas over paddocks and farmland,” Noxon says.
April dining table: Zuster; Eames dining chairs: Living Edge; armchair: Featherston
April dining table: Zuster; Eames dining chairs: Living Edge; armchair: Featherston
A covered walkway runs alongside the pool house, which is set perpendicular to the new extension.
The extension replaces a previous attempt at extending the house – an addition that included a studio, guest bedroom and pool. The new extension is a long, singular living space that stretches into the landscape. A pool house replaces the old pool and carport.
The extension replaces a previous attempt at extending the house – an addition that included a studio, guest bedroom and pool. The new extension is a long, singular living space that stretches into the landscape. A pool house replaces the old pool and carport.
The biggest challenge of the project for Noxon was figuring out how to make the best of the landscape and environmental aspects while also protecting the home from ever-present peninsula winds and weather.
“And also tying the new work into the original house in a subtle and low-key manner to produce a cohesive and integrated ‘whole’,” Noxon says.
‘Woodland Grey’ roofing: Colorbond
“And also tying the new work into the original house in a subtle and low-key manner to produce a cohesive and integrated ‘whole’,” Noxon says.
‘Woodland Grey’ roofing: Colorbond
The water feature is quiet and calm, much like the rest of the house and surrounding countryside.
Bronze sculpture: Douglas Stephen
Bronze sculpture: Douglas Stephen
Sustainable design initiatives were an essential part of the brief. Climate control is achieved through high-performance double glazing and heavy ceiling, roof and floor insulation. The narrow single-volume floor plate provides excellent cross ventilation, and rainwater is collected on site via two 50,000-litre underground water tanks. All waste is treated on site. Lighting is low-energy compact fluorescent and LED.
All new spaces take advantage of warm winter sun streaming in through north-facing windows, and receive an abundance of controlled natural light when desired via automated window shades.
All new spaces take advantage of warm winter sun streaming in through north-facing windows, and receive an abundance of controlled natural light when desired via automated window shades.
The new pool and garage pavilions stretch out over the site and are interconnected via courtyards and pergolas, offering both protection from the elements and revealing new vistas beyond.
“The new works are a collection of long and low buildings in the tradition of expansive single-level rural buildings,” says Noxon.
Both pool and garage buildings adopt basic construction methods of economical steel portal frames with fibreglass sheet cladding, an abstract reference to the adjacent existing farm shed construction.
“The buildings are filled with natural daylight, transforming into glowing garden lanterns at night,” Noxon says. Yet the fibreglass cladding ensures no one can see in from the outside.
The homeowners are low-key – Noxon says they didn’t want a pool that looked like it belonged in a resort. But both husband and wife swim daily, so the pool gets plenty of use. The corrugated fibreglass siding provides shelter from the wind and allows in plenty of natural light.
“The new works are a collection of long and low buildings in the tradition of expansive single-level rural buildings,” says Noxon.
Both pool and garage buildings adopt basic construction methods of economical steel portal frames with fibreglass sheet cladding, an abstract reference to the adjacent existing farm shed construction.
“The buildings are filled with natural daylight, transforming into glowing garden lanterns at night,” Noxon says. Yet the fibreglass cladding ensures no one can see in from the outside.
The homeowners are low-key – Noxon says they didn’t want a pool that looked like it belonged in a resort. But both husband and wife swim daily, so the pool gets plenty of use. The corrugated fibreglass siding provides shelter from the wind and allows in plenty of natural light.
There are a variety of outdoor seating areas for the couple and their guests. The weather can change quickly here, so it helps to have options. Noxon describes the views from the house as being like “moving wallpaper”. Now that the home is slightly elevated and the living areas face the valley, the outlook has been transformed. The owners describe the home’s new relationship with the landscape as a “total, delightful surprise”.
A simple internal steel portal frame structure is wrapped in floor-to-ceiling smooth and seamless butt-jointed double glazing, the pavillion “delicately hovering over the site”.
“The new house wing adopts a similar pitched roof cross-section to the original for continuity and cohesion,” Noxon says. “However, unlike the original solid brick walls, the new walls are light and open, thus offering strong visual connection with the site.”
The low, flat ceilings of the original dwelling become open cathedral ceilings in an elemental and simple expression of shelter, he says.
The low, flat ceilings of the original dwelling become open cathedral ceilings in an elemental and simple expression of shelter, he says.
“The new works eschew an architecture of dominance and excess,” Noxon says. “Rather, the project offers a subtle and delicate engagement with the natural elements through spatial transitions and a dynamic play of light and reflections, which capture the many and varied moods of the site.”
Who lives here: A retired couple with visiting extended family
Location: Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, about 1.5 hours from Melbourne
Project: Single-storey 360-square-metre extension to original 1960s brick veneer bungalow
Although the end result is striking, architect Justin Noxon approached this project with the idea that the proposed extension shouldn’t diminish the rather ordinary original house, but rather build upon and enhance it. The home is comfortable, stylish and serene, but not flashy, just as the owners’ wanted it.
The existing home had a north-south orientation, but its living areas were located facing south – a chilly proposition in this part of Victoria during winter. Three bedrooms, a study, main bathroom and laundry were accessed via a long hallway, and a studio, cabana and guest room had been hastily added to the east – a move that screened the valley from view. The home also had a deck, lap pool and double carport.