Cactus Ranch, Freshwater Creek
A characterful farmhouse reimagined around the everyday rhythms of family life.
Cactus Ranch at Freshwater Creek gives new life to an old, uninhabitable farmhouse, turning it into a warm and practical home for a family who plan to stay for good. Shaped by close observation of how they actually live and work, it brings together bedrooms, studies and a flexible work room, studio and guest space, finished with rich colour, natural timber and bespoke joinery that make it entirely their own.
Year
Complete
Services
Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Design
Client
Private Client
Location
Freshwater Creek, VIC
Room for a Growing Household
With two families sharing a house on the farm, our clients needed more room and a home they could live in for decades to come. They cared deeply about quality and longevity, and wanted a house planned around the way they really live, with spaces to work, gather and host, all connected to the farm around them.
Saving an Uninhabitable Farmhouse
Council needed convincing that the uninhabitable farmhouse could be treated as a refurbishment, and changed permit conditions meant less than half of it could be demolished, so we re-engineered the structure as the project unfolded. A complicated power supply issue across the farm led the clients to go off grid, and building in a wet, muddy paddock added its own hurdles.
Walking Through the Model
We built a 3D model the clients could walk through, showing how sunlight would reach each room and helping them get behind bolder ideas. As owner builders, they managed construction themselves, and we worked alongside them to make sure every detail, from the tiled kitchen island to the study’s suspended net, was built properly.
A Home Shaped Around Daily Life
The family now has a home that works around them. The kitchen sits at the heart of the house with a view to every shared space, outdoor living opens to the north, and a work room lets people work at different hours while staying close. Our clients think it’s perfect, and it’s ready to adapt as their family grows and changes. And after some lively debate, the cactus stayed too.
