02-08-2025
2025 Houses Awards: High Country ‘spaceship' cabin wins big
Four Victorian houses including a High Country spaceship-like cabin have been named among Australia's most exceptional homes of the year.
The 2025 Houses Awards presented by Houses magazine recognised multiple abodes across Victoria, NSW and QLD.
The New House Under 200sq m category winner was the tiny Sawmill Treehouse by Mansfield-based designer Robbie Walker.
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With its otherworldly appearance, the 48sq m home surrounded by gum trees has drawn comparisons with a spaceship.
The best New House Over 200sq m gong went to Ivanhoe's Hedge and Arbour House by architecture practice Studio Bright.
In Carlton, a property by Architecture Architecture received the House in a Heritage Context award.
The circa-1870s terrace was turned into a home featuring a garden studio for the owners to write and paint in.
And a Carlton house alteration and addition by Lovell Burton Architecture also won an award.
The historic cottage was extended and renovated to incorporate family-friendly touches such as burnished concrete floors for children to ride their bicycles on.
Another Victorian recipient was Windsor's Ellul Architecture which was presented with the Emerging Architecture Practice gong.
Houses magazine editor and the awards' jury chair, Alexa Kempton, said many of the winning homes demonstrated inventiveness with several championing sustainable design – including Sawmill Treehouse.
Mr Walker said the cabin's owner had spent time camping on the property before she commissioned the cabin.
As a result, she fell in love with its tall trees and did not want any removed during construction.
The client asked Mr Walker to design a small home to share with her family and friends, which she also rents out for short stays.
It features a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room with services concealed below the floor and behind stairs.
Being in a high-risk bushfire area, its external material is nonflammable steel while the interiors are timber.
Mr Walker said its location near a gully that collects water from the surrounding area posed some difficulty during the design process.
His innovative solution was to put the house on stilts, allowing water to flow underneath.
'The large tall trees that fill the area were the inspiration for the tall columns, which were based on the tree trunks,' Mr Walker said.
'They extend past the building just like the trees do.'
Another small building on the site has a garage, laundry and outdoor kitchen.
Mr Walker described his client as the true hero of the project because 'choosing to build something small when you have the space to go bigger takes real courage'.
'Real estate agents advised that a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house would fetch the best price if they ever decided to sell,' he said.
Banks would likely struggle to value a one-bedroom home in a rural area, while planning and building permits for smaller projects require the same consultants, reports and approvals as larger ones, he noted.
'So, after all that effort, resisting the urge to simply double the material use and add extra bedrooms is no small feat,' Mr Walker said.
'In a system that rewards excess, choosing to build less — not out of necessity but out of principle — is just as, if not more, important than the materials themselves. Seeing that decision through takes real courage.'
The 2025 Houses Awards winners:
Australian House of the Year – Blok Three Sisters by Blok Modular and Vokes and Peters, Queensland
New House Under 200 Square Metres – Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker, Victoria
New House Over 200 Square Metres – Hedge and Arbour House by Studio Bright, Victoria
House Alteration and Addition Under 200 Square Metres – Carlton Cottage by Lovell Burton Architecture, Victoria
House Alteration and Addition Over 200 Square Metres – Cloaked House by Trias, NSW
Apartment or Unit – Blok Three Sisters by Blok Modular and Vokes and Peters, Queensland
Small Project – Window, Window, Window by Panov Scott, NSW
Sustainability – Cake House by Alexander Symes Architect, NSW
House in a Heritage Context – Mess Hall by Architecture Architecture, Victoria
