Yarra Valley Mudbrick House

During the height of the COVID lockdowns, Architected director Stewart Brooks and his wife, contemporary jeweller Georgie Brooks (georgiebrooks.com), made the move to the Yarra Valley — opting for a tree change and purchasing a 10-acre bush property just 30 minutes from Melbourne.

Set in a secluded native valley and overlooking a private lake, the property includes a 1970s mudbrick cottage that captured their imagination. The project, still evolving (as an architect’s own home always is), has seen the completion of Stage One: a contemporary timber extension that mirrors the roofline of the original structure, while sitting comfortably alongside it.

Designed as a love letter to the 1970s, the addition blends modern forms with vintage character — a study in texture, materiality and colour, all drawn from the spirit of the era. Though yet to be professionally photographed, the result is a deeply personal, ongoing experiment in architecture, nostalgia, and place.