This timber-clad Huon Valley home is an 'ode to Scandinavian design'
When Jane Smith purchased a hectare of undeveloped farmland with a dreamy vista drifting south over Tasmania’s Port Cygnet, she knew exactly what kind of house she wanted to build.
“I wanted something very contemporary, but with a mid-century Scandi vibe,” says the freelance TV commercial producer, who sold up her macadamia farm at Rosebank on the NSW North Coast to move here. “It had to have timber cladding and a flat roof.”
Having approached several architects who failed to “float her boat”, Smith stumbled on just the property in nearby Franklin, with similar postcard views overlooking the Huon River, designed by Nathan Crump (when he worked with architects Room 11) – modern, clean lines, timber-clad.
“It was just the house I was after,” Smith recalls. “It was very cool.”
Smith, though, doesn’t only know what she wants. She also wants to be intimately involved in the design and build. She previously helped design an office studio from a repurposed tin shed in inner-Sydney Redfern with architect Raffaello Rosselli. It’s now part of a neighbourhood architecture trail.
With the Cygnet property, Smith initially had the idea of constructing three separate self-contained pods to accommodate her needs – one for her to live in and two more for either friends and family or paying guests to stay in. “I always wanted that flexibility,” she says.
Crump, on the other hand, took her idea and developed it. He created three separate pavilions that were connected by walkways and covered courtyards.
“It made more sense to have one long house, a single gesture along the property’s ridge line,” says Ryan Cawthorn, project architect for Crump Architects. “Tying the three distinct elements together allowed for the external spaces to have year-round use.”
At the same time, the architects saw their design of The Long House – as the project became known – as paying homage to the typical local vernacular: the barns and apple sheds scattered throughout the Huon Valley.
The architects designed the property so that each pavilion – oriented to take advantage of the views – had its own bedroom, bathroom and entrance. As the principal residence, the main pavilion at one end had open-plan dining, kitchen and living areas, as well as a bar, office and laundry.
The third pavilion, at the other end, also included a living area and kitchenette, which better suited it to be rented out.
With the covered courtyards in between, residents or guests were free to move among the pavilions while keeping out of the elements, or, if they chose, they could simply keep to themselves.
“The house can adapt really quickly, depending on the use of the property, be it as a rental, for family or guests staying,” says Cawthorn.
It also floated Smith’s boat. “Once I saw [Nathan’s design], I never went back,” she says. “It was exactly what I wanted.”
Smith had other ideas, too. She wanted to clad the building in charred spotted gum, a Japanese process known as shou sugi ban, forming what Cawthorn says is “a shadow in the landscape”.
“I always wanted a house done like that,” says Smith. “Apparently, there’s a new thing called Jandi – Japanese and Scandi – although I didn’t know that at the time.”
She also wanted the easy-sliding spotted gum screens facing the street to be more natural in contrast to the blackened timber. The screens were designed for the courtyards to be open or closed, for privacy or against the weather, reinforcing the property’s versatility. But it also helped break down the building mass.
“When you’re up close, the house is more faceted, permeable,” explains Cawthorn.
Further, Smith argued for timber ceiling battens to run the full length of the building and for locally sourced bricks around a two-sided fireplace, facing internally and externally, to contrast with the timber. “Overland Builders were fantastic, but I pushed them,” she says.
She also made smaller changes along the way, like reconfiguring the pantry and kitchen, and having basins handmade by a local potter in craft-minded Cygnet, a 15-minute walk.
Importantly, Crump Architects added striking pitched roofs to each of the pavilions. Referencing surrounding farm buildings, the angled roofs were aimed primarily at drawing natural light from the north into the interiors while adding volume and passive temperature control.
Additionally, Cawthorn says it helped enliven the dark, moody interiors, purposefully chosen “to allow [views of] the landscape to pop”.
Reflecting on the project, Smith says: “It’s my ode to Scandinavian design.”
Georgie Rayner, from The Agency Hobart, believes the house – only 45 minutes from the capital – suits downsizers and families with older children as a home or weekender, either based locally or from the mainland.
“Mainlanders are a growing market,” she says.
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