Location: Snowy Monaro Region/ Ngarigo
Project Stage: Completed 2025

Architecture and Interior Design: Studio KaaKi
Furniture and Styling: Studio KaaKi
Landscape Design: Even Spaces
Structural Engineer: PMI Engineers
Builder: Bellevarde Constructions
Photography: Tim Clark Studio

Perched in the spectacular alpine expanse of New South Wales’ Snowy Monaro region, Main Range House is a generational legacy home for an extended family.

The new house replaces a long-dilapidated farmhouse on a property that has been in the clients’ family for over fifty years. With sweeping views across to the rural farmland plains and the Main Range beyond, the new residence is a grounded and sculptural ode to memory and place.

For the owners, the property has always been a backdrop to family life; weddings, birthdays, milestones, and spirited gatherings around long tables, all framed by the wild beauty of the Snowies. The brief was to honour these moments in a new architectural language that could welcome three generations, all at once. Fourteen beds, endless conversation, and space to both retreat and come together.

Our design response was through a series of single-storey pavilions that sit gently in the landscape. Clad in a grey-toned palette of brick, concrete, weathered timber and galvanized steel, the home is designed to withstand the alpine elements, while offering a sense of sanctuary and warmth within. Sloping gable roofs reinterpret the traditional farmhouse vernacular, while quietly echoing the nearby mountain ranges. Beneath these forms, living spaces stretch out, while bedrooms are tucked discreetly below, nestled into the contours of the hill and accessed by a sweeping curved staircase.

Key to the success of the project is its relationship with the land. The house hunkers low against the wind on a flat knoll, its pavilions strategically sited to embrace significant views: one to the open valley, the other toward a cherished old gum tree, both holding meaning for the family. Between the built forms, a series of courtyards soften the transition from house to landscape, the architecture embracing the natural slope of the land.

Internally, a nuanced palette of earthy hues of red ochres, eucalyptus greens, blackbutt timber, aged brass and grey brick brings a warmth that is both tactile and timeless. Sentimental pieces from the original farmhouse have been carefully considered and given pride of place, nestled into custom niches and architectural moments throughout the home. It’s a deeply personal touch that anchors the new to the old.

Main Range House is a home forged in memory and made for generations to come; elegantly resolved and part of the landscape.