Rob Mills-designed Ocean House in Lorne listed for $4m-$4.4m

When producers of last year’s hit Australian drama Fake, starring Asher Keddie and David Wenham, were looking for a high-end coastal home to shoot in, they could not go past Ocean House in Lorne.

The property that celebrated architect Rob Mills designed for himself and his family is now for sale with a price guide of $4 million to $4.4 million. It is the ultimate expression of refinement, quiet luxury and good taste, and was perfect as the holiday home that Wenham’s duplicitous character pretended to own – the sort of house that is guaranteed to impress. 

Listing agent Ian Stewart of Great Ocean Road Real Estate Lorne says 2a Tradewinds Avenue brings a sense of calm and relaxation. The 1.3-hectare block faces the Southern Ocean, just off the Great Ocean Road, one of Australia’s most famous scenic coastal highways.

It is hard to picture a better place to put your feet up and chill to the sound of the ocean. 

“For those who follow Rob Mills and his imagination and creativity, you don’t see too many homes like it,” Stewart says. “To me, the signature is the upstairs, open kitchen, living, dining. You can be standing and looking at the crashing surf and the ocean life, and then swing 180 degrees and you have the towering gum trees before you through the expansive glass.

“When you enter, your top button pops. It has a wonderful sense of relaxation, it’s just so calming.”

The six-bedroom, five-bathroom property is an icon of the area, with curves and lines delineating zones over three levels.

Ocean House is crowned by a level called The Sky – a sun terrace with a bath and day beds for soaking up the big blue horizon. Below that is The Treetops, containing a calming, open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, and a sensational circular main bedroom. This is where the waves and bushland seem close enough to touch.

The next level down is The Forest, where the buyer will find more bedrooms, bar, lounge, second kitchen and terrace.

The base level is The Rocks, which houses a self-contained bedroom with an en suite and an entertainment room.

The interiors are organic and soft in tone. Generous use of timber, reminiscent of the colour of bark, and tactile stone mirrors the surrounding bushland.

In his design, Melbourne-based Mills celebrated the sensory aspects of living by the ocean and in the forest. He sold the house in 2020 for $4.8 million.

Stewart and his colleague Karen Stribling are conducting private inspections, which he says is the best way to experience the property.

“It is by appointment, one on one, because you need time,” he says. “You can walk straight through it and be soaked up by the aura of the environment, so you have someone beside you, highlighting a lot of the features.”

Lorne’s largest cohort of buyers is Melburnians looking to secure a second home for holidays and weekends. 

They value the easy access to the surf-lovers’ hamlet about an hour past Geelong.

Stewart says the Lorne market is making a comeback after a rebalancing period.

“It’s showing a pulse, whereas 12 months ago, we didn’t have a pulse,” he says. “We had some years that were off the charts, through COVID. Then, post-COVID, our market just almost took what I’ll call a minor correction.

“There was uncertainty around a number of things – cost of living, increased land tax, publicity that was aimed at why people might think twice about having a leisure property or a second home. The majority of our buyers, by a long way, are people looking for that second home. It’s a lifestyle asset.”

$3,850,000

2A Tradewinds Avenue, Lorne VIC 3232

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