Welcome to Gilay Estate farm-stay: Luxury on the land

Practically a rom-com waiting to happen, this off-grid luxury farm-stay is a project born from love.

When Sandy and Alexandra Rogers’ relationship blossomed into marriage, so did the idea of creating a luxe love nest for short-term rental on their 809-hectare property, Gilay Estate – a working farm on the sweeping Liverpool Plains near Quirindi, NSW.

“We really wanted to share this little patch of paradise with others,” Alexandra says.

“We felt there was an opportunity to do something between a tiny home and a five-star hotel room, shrunk into nature.”

To bring their vision to life, the couple engaged Cameron Anderson Architects and Aaron Lawson from Aztek Constructions, an HIA GreenSmart-accredited builder specialising in solar passive design and energy-efficient materials, and winner of the 2025 HIA-CSR Australian Housing Awards‘ specialised housing category for this very property.

“We thought we’d be able to do it for $300,000,” Alexandra says, but they were at the mercy of high inflation and post-pandemic inconsistency of supply. This nearly doubled the cost.

Another year-long complication was dividing the farm into separate titles as the couple intended to build another two dwellings on the property, which created a problematic development application.

“We were strangled by process for a while; it nearly put an absolute standstill to the project,” Alexandra says. Their perseverance paid off, however and the build started in 2023, taking eight months to complete.

The Hut, as it’s called, is four hours from Sydney on a secluded rise on Gilay Estate with uninterrupted views of rolling hills.

“You can see no other houses from where you are,” Alexandra says. “The nearest house would be about 1.5 kilometres away.”

Chilled sparkling sits in the bespoke wine fridge for a festive arrival, while luxury sheets sit on the comfortable king-sized bed in the open-plan living room.

There’s a fire pit, a gas-fuelled pizza oven, and a wood-fired hot tub with a backup electric pump.

“We wanted there to be little spots where people could connect and spend time together,” Alexandra says.

Consultation with the local Aboriginal Land Council helped inspire the design, which centres on connecting to the land and reflecting the area’s heritage. 

Dark, charred timber cladding on the exterior represents traditional burning, and the spotted-gum interior symbolises regrowth and healing.

The Hut’s roofline references the Emu in the Sky, a dark constellation in the shape of an emu that is seen in the inky-black space between the stars of the Milky Way.

“We overlaid the emu diagram [of the dark constellation] and that’s where the curve came from,” Anderson says. “When you look at it from above, it’s kind of an abstracted emu.”

The roof also mimics a tent, a play on primitive camping and sleeping under the stars. In the Gamilaraay language, “gilay” means “moon”, and a double-glazed window is placed directly above the bed for night-sky gazing.

What’s impressive is to have this level of luxury in a 40-square-metre space while being completely off-grid. The building is powered by a 6.4-kilowatt rooftop solar-energy system with 11.4 kilowatts of battery storage.

Rainwater is stored in a 60,000-litre tank and filtered for guests. All windows are double glazed, and the polished concrete floor absorbs morning sun and is insulated underneath and on the sides with 25-millimetre Kooltherm polystyrene.

Shading is provided by the overhanging wrapped-metal roof and quirky trapezoidal design.

The Rogers are now embarking on stage two of their passion project, and Aztek Constructions has just poured the slab for Gilay Estate’s second dwelling, two kilometres from The Hut.

“It’ll be the same design with different landscape and amenities but exactly the same features and fittings,” Alexandra says.