Hobbit-inspired home nestled within the sand dunes blends seamlessly with its surroundings

Nestled high in the sand dunes with spectacular views of the ocean, Domic is a holiday home that immerses its visitors in nature. Overlooking Sunshine Beach and with Noosa National Park at its doorstep, the residence is designed to blend in with its surroundings, with its external walls and sculptural domed roofs encased in greenery.

Owner Evgeny Skigin wanted the house to feel like a secluded retreat. “Every window is facing either a green roof, the ocean or the park,” he says. “You don’t see any other houses, you don’t hear any cars. All you really hear is the ocean, the birds and the wind in the trees.”

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He cites the Hobbit houses of The Lord of the Rings as inspiration for Domic’s grassy roofs. Yet despite its miniature reference, the three-level home is expansive, boasting six luxury bedrooms, a commercial kitchen, a 25-metre infinity pool, a cinema and a day spa complete with a steam room, sauna, ice bath and lounge area. When Skigin is in Europe (he owns an industrial hemp company in the Netherlands and Russia), Domic is available to book for short-term stays.

Skigin worked on the building’s design with award-winning Brisbane-based Noel Robinson Architects. Sustainability and respect for the environment were top priority. Robinson set the house deep into the hill, which creates both a sense of privacy and keeps internal temperatures cool.

“The context is really important for the house because it takes the National Park as a landscape form and brings it into the house, I mean, there are no other house like this,” Robinson says.

The eco-conscious building’s insulation is composed of carbon-sequestering hempcrete panels sourced from Skigin’s company, and there’s an underground room for lithium batteries which store energy from the property’s 113 solar panels. “We’d never done a building with so many solar [panels] and batteries before,” Robinson explains. “This is the biggest.” Landscape architect James Birrell blanketed the roof in native vegetation, which spills over undulating concrete arches and helps to cool the cross-breeze.

Inside, Domic’s structure is all soft edges and organic curves – the effect is like standing in a very luxurious cave. Natural materials like stone and wood feature throughout its minimal interiors. “I always want guests to come here and feel like they are at home – that they can sit anywhere, touch anything and feel relaxed, not like they are in a museum with art objects they don’t want to ruin,” Skigin says.

The property offers direct access to the beach below, and there are plenty of water-based activities in proximity – boating, scuba diving, surfing and kitesurfing among them. Bushwalkers have Noosa National Park next door or can make the trip down to the breathtaking Glass House Mountains. Those after a wildlife encounter also have the option of Australia Zoo, though the views from Domic’s outdoor sauna prove a worthy rival. Skigin recalls a magical moment, looking through the sauna window and out at the waves. “I saw whales jumping,” he says. “I was like, ‘This is unbelievable’.”

But with the option of booking a private chef and in-home massages as well, simply staying put at the sculptural home is easy too. After all, lounging by the pool all day is what beach holidays are for.