The house glowing behind glass at dusk above the coastal heath

The Retreat

One house.
Twenty acres.

Immerse is a single low-slung house on a headland above D'Estrees Bay, designed to sit under the wind rather than fight it. You take all of it, always.

The architecture

Built low, so the horizon stays the tallest thing here.

The house was designed around hard Australian light and weather off the Southern Ocean, and the answer was restraint: low pavilions grounded by rammed-earth walls and warmed by Australian hardwood timber, joined by an open breezeway and turned squarely toward the Southern Ocean.

Nothing is louder than the view. Glass runs to the floor, ceilings rake toward the water, and the weight and texture of earth and timber settle the house into its coastal setting.

The living and dining pavilion open to the ocean — Living pavilion

The living pavilion

A room with one hundred and eighty degrees of weather.

The living room is the heart of the house — deep sofas, room for everyone to spread out, and a wall of glass that turns whatever the ocean is doing into the evening's entertainment.

Whales pass in season. Sea eagles work the updraught most mornings. On still nights the Milky Way arrives without competition; there is no other light for kilometres.

Dining table for eight beneath a raked ceiling with ocean views — The dining table

The table

Set for eight, built for lingering.

One long table under a raked ceiling, with the water in view from every seat. It is the room where the maps come out, and where the last bottle usually gets opened.

Room by room

Four bedrooms, each with its own fire.

Set across the sleeping pavilions, the four bedrooms give couples, families and groups room to gather while retaining a sense of privacy. Each pair of bedrooms shares a bathroom.

Bedroom one — king, ocean outlook
Bedroom two — king, garden aspect
Bedroom three — king
Bedroom four — two king singles

The detail

Everything you need. Nothing you have to manage.

Sleeps: Eight people across four bedrooms.
Beds: Three king beds and two king single beds. Australian linen, wool blankets, robes and slippers.
Bathrooms: Two indoor bathrooms plus the outdoor stone bath.
Heating: Slow-combustion fires in every room, with split wood and kindling supplied. Please consider this carefully with children under twelve.
Kitchen: A generous open kitchen with a stocked pantry, coffee, island olive oil and a spirits library. Serious enough to cook properly in, easy enough to make toast.
Power and water: Entirely off-grid — solar power and rainwater. Everything you need, nothing that hums.
Connectivity: Complimentary wifi and Netflix, should you decide you want them.
The land: Twenty private acres bordering the Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park and Wilderness Protection Area.