Beautiful homes are ones which express something about the people who live in them. Homes with true beauty are the ones that encapsulate the personality and heart of their inhabitants.
That is why it is so difficult to declare which style of home is ‘the best’ – whether it’s a luxury, prefab, country or beachfront residence, the most beautiful home will always be the one filled with the most character.
Australian homes in particular are beautiful for their diversity. From simple, affordable ranch-style houses to the elaborate mansions of Sydney’s waterfront, beautiful Australian homes know no one type. The most beautiful Australian homes are the ones which work with the raw beauty of the natural landscape. Australia’s most acclaimed architect, Glenn Murcutt – winner of the Praemium Imperiale architecture award – is well known for his devotion to the aboriginal proverb “touch the earth lightly,” a philosophy which has influenced every aspect of design in his many eco-friendly residences.
Homes like these which work in harmony with their natural surroundings are truly the ones that encapsulate the Australian spirit. Read on for a list of some of the most beautiful homes in Australia today and how each of them embodies a different aspect of Australian life.
Beautiful homes Australia: Top 5 beautiful homes design
- Alinghi beach house, QLD
Pretty houses Australia: The Alinghi beach house is a property in Agnes water, Queensland with the capacity for 10 people. For any Queenslander or traveller interested in this property, a one week stay at this house will cost approximately $7,700 dollars. The Alinghi beach house was named one of the world’s top 5 beach houses by the UK Independent. It has been owned by Rob Benn Holdings since its construction. It is nestled amongst the cliffs of North Queensland’s Capricorn Coast at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef.
What makes the Alinghi beach house so beautiful is the way it works in harmony with the natural landscape. Award winning architect James Grose designed the house with cross-ventilation, high siting and louvered air-vents to maximize the natural ocean breezes for temperature regulation.
The house is also clad externally in Arctic cedar, a carefully chosen timber which blends in with the surrounding silver-barked trees. This effect is designed to last and the house will only melt further into the landscape as time passes, because the materials will gradually fade under the sunlight.
- The Villa Veneto, NSW
The Villa Veneto broke Sydney records when it sold for $52 million to medical innovator David Penn. The Villa Veneto is a six-bedroom Italianate property designed by Michael Suttor complete with a home theatre, sauna, art gallery, gym, and library.
It took over four years to finalize the blueprints and the site had to be excavated deeply into the sandstone. The Villa has views of the opera house and the harbor bridge, and the inside is equally as beautiful as the rustic colomns and balustrades of the outside. Every room in the house is linked onto an elegant internal courtyard, giving the property a sense of community.
Villa Veneto may seem like an atypical Australian house, but it actually captures the beauty of Australia’s multiculturalism. Combining beautiful Italian architecture techniques with the breathtaking Australian waterfront and iconic symbols like the opera house is an ode to the benefits of diversity in modern Australian society. This home truly encapsulates the Australian spirit of inclusivity, tying together the romanticism of the past with the possibilities of the present.
- San Remo House, VIC
A slight change in pace from the extravagant houses previously listed, the Sam Remo house in Gippsland, Victoria is a new 2 story prefab home with ocean views and an eco-friendly design. Designed by the renowned architecture firm Ecoliv, the San Remo project overlooks Brass Strait and was constructed with entirely sustainable materials.
The project cost approximately 600,000 total. Much like the Alinghi beach house, the San Remo house was designed with natural temperature regulation in mind. The vast open windows capture natural light, helping with the orientation and insulation to reduce the need for high-carbon impact artificial temperature controls.
The San Remo house is a testament to the beauty of modern Australian design, combining form with function. A bold and contemporary-looking building, it stands out strikingly against the natural landscape; however, that only serves to make both the house and the surrounds appear even more beautiful.
- Clifftop House, NSW
The Clifftop House on the Great Ocean Road overlooks the gorgeous Victorian coastline. It was purchased in 1992 by the Berry-Cooks. One of only a dozen houses in the area, this house mirrors the drama of the ocean in its stylish contemporary design.
The ocean-facing walls are made from almost entirely glass, connecting its inhabitants with the surrounding nature from dusk to dawn. It was designed to withstand the harsh clifftop conditions, with wind-funneling principles critical to the structural design.
This house actually was designed in opposition to the “touch the earth lightly” principle. Berry and Cooks approached architecture firm Woods Bagot with a desire for a structure which would anchor itself in the surrounding land. This is part of what makes the building so beautiful; it is deeply connected to the desires and philosophy of its owners. Berry and Cooks are both photographers, and every aspect of the house reflects their highly visual nature.
For example; the lap pool actually appears to disappear into the sea on the horizon.
The clifftop house is one of the most beautiful houses in Australia because it encapsulates the wild beauty of the Australian climate and plants itself firmly within that landscape, an equally harsh and beautiful thing. Read more about the design process here.
- Wylie-Rawlings residence, NSW
This 118 acre property in Nashua, NSW has a simple elegance that embodies the beauty of Australian farm life. The Cottage, (pic below) is a small and beautiful on-site cabin open to guests.
The historic farmhouse in which owners Jeanie and Edward live was renovated after their move. The other buildings on the property, like the cottage, were actually transported from their old property in Ipswich.
This home captures the rustic grace of rural living and the connection that this life brings with family.
The children have lived in the cottage their whole lives and their grandparents also live on a cottage in the property, just a short walk from the main house.
A sense of family love, nature and happiness radiate from every inch of this property, from the décor to the surrounding paddocks, and it is truly one of the most beautiful homes in Australia.
