EST Living – Home Tour | Kookaburra Ridge by Homeroom Studio
Month: April 2026
In the countryside near Daylesford in Victoria, Australia, a home finds a sense of rhythm within the landscape.
Set upon a scenic ridgeline in Victoria, Australia, the newly designed Kookaburra Ridge sits in conversation with its tranquil surroundings. With soft tones and textural materials, Melbourne-based Homeroom Studio created a thoughtful, pared-back design that allows the home to flow effortlessly with the landscape. “While tranquillity was central to the brief, the client was equally seeking a sense of quiet sophistication—an environment that felt refined without excess,” Homeroom Studio founder and director Romy Dankner explains.
Given the breathtaking surrounding landscape, the design continually references a connection between the interior and exteriors. The entrance, which is “deliberately understated,” Dankner notes, with soft grey stone paving that extends seamlessly from the exterior to the interior foyer. “This moment acts as a pause before stepping down into the main spine of the home, where the spaces unfold more fully,” she adds. From here, the landscape is immediately visible, ensuring the first focal point is on the countryside and pine trees beyond.
“What feels most compelling is the home’s sense of restraint.”
“Materials have been deliberately limited, allowing light, texture, and landscape to take precedence.” Within the pared-back material palette, warm woods and veined stones ground the space, while softer textures such as open-weave linen window coverings are a gentle counterpoint to the clean lines. Each material was also selected with longevity in mind, with the intention for the home to be a calming, refined retreat for years to come.
For Danker, “there is a stillness to the home—deeply attuned to its setting and gently removed from the pace of everyday life.” The design doesn’t compete with the environment, but acts seemingly as a natural extension of the landscape itself, offering an idyllic vantage point to experience the surroundings from day to night, season to season.
Words by Charlotte Boates
Photography Traianos Pakioufakis
The Local Project – Kookaburra Ridge by Homeroom Studio
Month: April 2026
Homeroom Studio melded the hues and rhythms of rural living with its distinctive restrained approach to create Kookaburra Ridge.
To envision a rural retreat outside Daylesford in Victoria, Homeroom Studio founder Romy Dankner and her team felt it crucial to immerse themselves in the colours and forms of the locale. “Spending time there and understanding the landscape was an integral part of our process,” Dankner says. “Walking the site allowed us to understand its scale and stillness – informing a design that feels connected, considered and grounded in place.”
“Warm neutrals reflective of the landscape are offset by deep khaki green elements that introduce moments of strength and depth.”
Set against a backdrop of towering pine trees atop a sculpted ridgeline, Kookaburra Ridge feels firmly connected to place – natural, intuitive, subtle. Pale timber vertical battens and broad glass apertures create a restrained presence, one deeply attuned to the clients’ desire for a residence that felt like a retreat from the world. “They wanted a home away from home where they could switch off, unwind and feel deeply connected to their surroundings,” Dankner explains.
Integral to that sense is a floor plan which unfolds with clarity and purpose – enhancing both the interior flow and connection to the outdoors – and a material palette rich in texture but soft in tone. “Warm neutrals reflective of the landscape are offset by deep khaki green elements that introduce moments of strength and depth.” Natural timber and textured stone flooring ground the spaces, while striking swathes of stone from Artedomus bring restrained drama to the kitchen and bathrooms. “Detailing is intentionally pared back, drawing focus to the heavily veined and expressive natural stones. The design is softened by gently rendered walls and open-weave linen window furnishings that drift effortlessly with the breeze.”
Words by Deborah Cooke
