Passion project: The family who turned a 160-year-old American barn into a stunning holiday home

If you were asked to describe a landscape ideal for a barn-style home, you might suggest something like the 40 hectares of farmland in the Victorian high country owned by the Harris family. 

With grazing cattle, undulating hills and views out towards Mount Buller and Mount Timbertop, an agricultural-style build fits in perfectly. 

Owner Terry Harris thought so, and an imitation barn wasn’t going to do the trick for him. When it came to building a rural retreat where his extended family could congregate and relax, Terry located a genuine 160-year-old American barn in Indiana that was facing demolition, and arranged for it to be shipped across the world to his Merrijig property in north-east Victoria. 

Terry’s daughter-in-law, Katherine Harris, explains it was the culmination of a long-held dream for Terry.

“Rescuing a barn was a passion project for my father-in-law,” Katherine says. “He’d travelled to America several times before he decided on the specific barn that he wanted to move to the property in Merrijig.”

Terry was in Indiana when the old barn was carefully pulled down in preparation for its trip to Australia. The pieces of the structure, as they were disassembled, were tagged “so that each piece could be put back together, like a puzzle,” Katherine says. 

But to be sure the rebuild went smoothly, Terry also flew Kyle Clifton – the owner of the company who sold Terry the barn – over to Australia help reconstruct it the way it would have been built back in the 1860s – this time, near one of Victoria’s snow fields. 

Three years after Terry originally found the barn, its transformation into a five-bedroom, four-bathroom family holiday retreat was completed in early 2021. 

Respect for the beauty of the surrounding landscape is interwoven into the design. An elevated deck overlooks the Delatite Valley and nearby mountains, and inside, each room is graced with large steel-framed windows to bring those views in.

That beauty, and the historic barn beams, were elements Katherine worked with when she put together the home’s interior furnishings. 

“I was mindful of the importance of showcasing the post and beam structure and wanted the furniture and styling to blend, and not overwhelm the space,” she says. “A soft industrial farmhouse may be a good way to describe the style.”  

The huge main room with its soaring, vaulted ceilings has been cleverly divided. 

“We wanted to create zones in the main living space,” Katherine says. “The armchair area is perfect for your morning coffee watching the sunrise, the couches surrounding the fireplace are cosy for a winter evening with a glass of wine, and the 12 -seater dining table – which was also made using original barn wood – is fabulous for long lunches and family celebrations.” 

Terry’s love of reusing quality materials informed one of the home’s loveliest features, a 12-metre high stone fireplace, which was built by hand over the course of 18 months.

“The stone for the fireplace was all quarried from the property itself – another element of recycling products within the barn,” Katherine says.  

The Harris family has named the property Coombs Hills Barn in honour of the Coombs family, who owned the farmland for decades before selling it in 2007.  

It seems likely that the Harris family will hold on to it for a long time, too.  

“[Terry] wanted to build a home for his family to holiday and make memories,” Katherine says. “We love coming up as a family as often as we can.” 

When the family isn’t using it, fortunate visitors can book Coombs Hill Barn as a luxurious holiday rental. 

The location provides endless opportunities for skiing, cycling and hiking the mountain trails, depending on the time of year.  

Then again, perhaps staying inside a genuine historic American barn is the real novelty. 

“One of the comments we get the most is that people have said they rarely left the property during their stay,” Katherine says. 

“They mention how usually on holidays they are out and about exploring, but at Coombs Hill, the peacefulness and calm almost keeps them at the property and they spend the majority of their time there.”