In the fold of the hill

Cut into the hill, a house hidden like a secret. Two thousand cubic metres shifted, sifted, re-set.
A ground layer of flowers and native grasses for the long game, Seed a ring of resilience around this home.

The brief

Excavate deep enough to nestle the ground floor into the slope, then regrade 2,000m³ of soil back across the site. Hunt for flatness on a 1:2 grade; carve out pockets of level lawn where life can sprawl. Revegetate the slope with a hardy, locally tuned palette. A garden that belongs to its surrounds, not one that fights them. Thread in pickable flowers. Casual bouquets. Morning missions. finally, design with bushfire resilience in mind.

The space

Carpets of local gravel sweep from parking to front door. A slow crunch. An arrival with texture. On the way, two existing Ash trees hold the threshold, a green gate into a mixed perennial garden, always shifting, always offering something to cut and carry inside.

Around the house, broad swathes of gravel and rock outcrop do the hard work: letting the building breathe, keeping fuel loads low, supporting effective fire suppression.

To the south, a generous lawn plane rolls down the hill to a picnic pocket, afternoon drinks, teenage hangouts, sky-watching with elbows in the grass.

And beyond the immediate gloss: 11,000 native plants, grown on from locally collected seed. A small engine of regeneration, stitched back into the Monaro plains story. A sanctuary, reclaimed and restored.

In the fold of the hill

Cut into the hill, a house hidden like a secret. Two thousand cubic metres shifted, sifted, re-set. A ground layer of flowers and native grasses for the long game, Seed a ring of resilience around this home.

The brief

The space

EVEN SPACES

Cut into the hill, a house hidden like a secret. Two thousand cubic metres shifted, sifted, re-set.
A ground layer of flowers and native grasses for the long game, Seed a ring of resilience around this home.