Kyneton's modular flat pack house house hits the market
Kyneton's modular flat pack house has been listed for sale.
It featured in the Grand Designs Australia series in 2012.
It was mid-2010 when Di Foggo and Rod Moore stepped into the offices of Melbourne-based architecture firm Intermode to enquire about them building their house.
They wanted to build a home in Kyneton, Victoria's spa district in the Macedon Ranges, north of Melbourne, a town increasingly a magnet for those in the creative industry.
Foggo had called architect Nick Carr, director of Intermode, after seeing one of his house designs nearby.
They'd been weekending in the Kyneton since 2006, where they restored a Federation home which allowed Foggo's green thumb to work on the gardens.
It was the 29th garden she had brought back to life.
Having completed the project, the couple decided they wanted to relocate to Kyneton permanently as they concluded their business commitments, and warehouse-style living, in the city.
Foggo was a commissioner at Fair Work Australia, while Moore worked in education at Victoria University.
This time they wanted to build a house.
"We knew we wanted modern, minimalist architect design," Moore recalled.
A 6,200 square metre block on Scotsman's Hill, the site of a former bluestone quarry overlooking the Kyneton race course, township and Mount Macedon, came up for sale, and the couple snapped it up in 2012.
"They were particularly interested in building a new home that would explore the idea of connecting indoors with the outdoors, more fully than historic dwellings allow," Intermode's Nick Carr said.
The result was a factory-built modular home, what Intermode call a flat pack house, built in a simple T-shape configuration.
The configuration offers the choice on entry of heading to the kitchen and dining area to the right, a courtyard enclave to the rear of the lounge to the left.
The living spaces are separated with glazed internal walls.
Two bedrooms, a bathroom, study, ensuite and master bedroom sit off the hallway.
"Intermode's credo is all about simplicity, modernity, environmentally sustainable design and materials - simple process and a quick build," Di said.
The couple wanted to have excelling climate control, which was achieved by an in-floor, gas fuelled, hydronic heating system under the polished concrete waffle-pod slab floor, which also provides the benefit of thermal mass (capturing warmth from the winter sun).
There's an ultra-efficient Apricus evacuated-tube solar hot-water system, as well as a gas boiler incase of a lack of sunlight.
The full-height doors promote cross-ventilation. In summer, cool air flows in and hot air flows out.
The finished project, which featured on Grand Designs Australia, has been listed for sale with a guide of $1.75 million through Keatings Real Estate Woodend agent Sandi Barry-Mueller.
Ahead of the March 16 auction, Barry-Mueller describes the home as one of Kyneton's finest examples of modern architecture.
It sits at the end of a rock lined driveway in private gardens which feature a mix of mature trees, including two flood lit mature Eucalypts.
The Kyneton region is home to a number of masterfully sculpted homes.
The renowned sculptor Peter D. Cole designed his home from scratch having bought a block with artist wife Anne in the town.
Cole was influenced by elements of Japan's architecture, a country he frequented a number of times throughout his career.
The couple sold the home in 2017 for $1,275,000.
These newer architecturally designed homes contrast the older historic homes.
Woodbine, the historic retreat that dates back to the 1850s, sold last year for $2.25 million
The Fiddlers Green Road estate comprised two dwellings in four hectares of gardens established by Melbourne landscaped designer Michael Pithie.
This article first appeared in The Weekend Australian.
