The new country home: How rural estates are being reimagined for modern living

The great Australian country homestead has a new identity. Their original purpose was to provide shelter from extreme climates, but contemporary versions serve a different role. They still have the spirit of a classic farmhouse, which is immortalised in Australian poetry, art and song, but with sustainability, wellness and entertainment in mind.

What hasn’t changed is the sense of legacy and the intention that they stand for 100 years or more.

Prestige buyers are investing in regional homes with architectural credentials that combine recreation, relaxation and perhaps the most precious commodity of all – connection to nature.

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They can afford a harbourfront mansion in Sydney, an estate on one of Melbourne’s blue-ribbon boulevards or a riverside Brisbane penthouse. However, even high-end city residences can’t always replicate the privacy and respite that have been increasingly sought since COVID-19.

Prestigious country and coastal homes are designed to have more features and comforts than a traditional weekender, and the scope to accommodate extended family and guests. Architect Sebastian Owen, of Akehurst Owen Cimino, says separate guest houses, pool and tennis court pavilions and wings that can be closed off or expanded provide valuable flexibility.

Owen says the pandemic influenced an era of “city-level amenity” in regional estates. Wellness areas were not a common request a decade ago, but clients now desire gyms, saunas, plunge pools, steam rooms and indoor pools.

However trendy that may be, the overall design process is grounded in a long-term view. The studio’s projects, set on rolling land in premium areas such as Portsea and Red Hill South, have a timelessness. “We say this to our clients: you are building a legacy here, and you’re building something that will outlive you,” Owen says.

This goal of perpetuity guides the choice of materials and the hiring of skilled craftsmen. Materials that mature well over time, such as stone, brick, copper, zinc, timber, slate and terracotta, are prized. “When someone goes into a historic homestead and there’s beautiful wall panelling, feature fireplaces and stonework, these are things which are remembered and they create permanence,” Owen says.

Sustainability and bushfire resistance are also crucial to the brief and can include bores, rainwater harvesting, solar arrays, batteries, heat pumps and automation. “These are active, intelligent properties,” Owen says.

Architect Lucy Cuthbertson of Carr says that while historic country homes turned inwards for shelter, new builds are deliberately linked visually and physically with the landscape.

Still, protection is a core consideration. “We’re seeing that in houses that we’re doing with large verandahs,” Cuthbertson says. “It’s a climatic response, and it’s providing that protection, but it’s still allowing us to be engaging with the landscape and the site more.”

Cuthbertson says a lot of time is spent on the site, understanding prevailing winds, solar conditions, views and topography. This was essential at Carr’s Peninsula House on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a contemporary farmhouse in a dress-circle seat above the water.

Homes exposed to the coast require a specific approach, with the house bunkered into the site, and outdoor areas configured to avoid whipping winds. “We want you to be able to have your windows open and your doors open to get your cross ventilation through, but that needs to be in the right spot,” Cuthbertson says.

However, weather extremes can also be a joy. At Peninsula House, carefully placed windows capture the sea and landscape in flux. “It’s almost an artwork, in that it is framing something that you know is going to be constantly changing,” Cuthbertson says.

Forbes Global Properties’ agent Darren Curtis says the definition of a luxury Australian farmhouse comes down to finish and facilities. In his market, they are on par with the finest Sydney properties. “Luxury homes, in my view, are the ones where we could be in Woollahra or Bellevue Hill, but we’re actually in Exeter or Bowral,” Curtis says. 

Expressions of Interest

194 Old Argyle Road, Exeter NSW 2579

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The most in-demand country listings resist a single label and have a variety of features that appeal to different ages and interests. Yaruga in Exeter, designed by Coble Stephens Architects and for sale through Curtis with a guide of $13 million, offers a six-bedroom main homestead, cattle grazing, a vineyard, pool and cabana, tennis court, spa, steam room, gym, wine cellar, billiards room, library and indoor golf simulator with a bar, along with a guest or managers’ cottage.

Scarcity is a major driver of value, and the most exclusive estates generate their own market. “A lot of the homes that we handle are one-off,” says Curtis. “And because of that, they have a better than normal chance of generating an emotional connection. Very often the people that I’m selling to or have sold to weren’t looking to buy when the property came up for sale. They only became buyers once the property was made public.”

Private sale

60 Tubbarubba Road, Merricks North VIC 3926

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Kay & Burton agent Tom Barr Smith says prestige buyers on the Mornington Peninsula are weighing up decisions with a long-term mindset. “Buyers want the flexibility to use a property as a weekend retreat today, while knowing it could transition into a permanent residence or accommodate extended family in the future,” he says.

Productive assets such as olive groves, vineyards, grazing land and equestrian facilities are desirable, especially when they uphold a property’s primary production status and reduce holding costs such as land tax. “Buyers generally aren’t looking to become full-time farmers, but they do appreciate the financial and practical benefits that productive land can provide alongside the lifestyle offering,” he says.

$6,500,000 Negotiable

53 Martins Road, Cooroy QLD 4563

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Noosa-Heads-based Kimberlea Krause, of Krause Property Group, says the quality of gardens on prestige acreage can be just as important as the residence itself.

“There’s the old saying in real estate that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes, and I actually think that today it’s more about living and landscaping,” Krause says. “Buyers are placing a huge amount of value on how a property feels to live in and the environment around it.

“Mature gardens, established trees, and thoughtfully designed landscapes create that immediate emotional connection. Buyers understand the time, patience and vision that that takes.”

Krause says her clientele is trading the convenience of a city home for a slower rhythm of life. “A lot of these buyers have reached a stage where convenience isn’t the priority anymore,” she says. “What they want now is a bit of space and privacy, and to create a life that feels a little bit more intentional.”