Hilltop by Flack Studio

The call of the countryside is answered in a symphony of striking marble, an intuitive mix of materials and a bowerbird variety of mid-century modern pieces in this Victorian weekender.

For those of us who are lucky enough to own a weekender, it presents the opportunity to have an escape suited to our exact needs. Having an urban home for the necessity of day-to-day life while also owning a retreat surrounded by natural beauty is fast redefining what the Australian dream is, and this jewellery box of a dwelling in Victoria’s High Country, with interiors by Flack Studio, is a vivid realisation of such a vision.

“The city house had to feel darker and just sexy,” says David Flack of the brief.

The clients already owned this property when they decided to downsize to a new home in Melbourne. Their proposition for Flack Studio: create a new city home and rejuvenate the country property for the next phase of their life. “The city house had to feel darker and just sexy,” says David Flack of the brief. “And then the country house had to still be elevated, a bit more moody, but with a relaxed, shoes-off kind of feel. It’s a tough, hardworking house for those weather conditions. They’re there every weekend – there’s an olive grove on the farm and it’s a big part of their life, so it’s not really a holiday house, it’s their second home.”

Practicalities aside, Hilltop is a project where a collaborative melding of style and spirit has taken place, with the clients being a pair of artful eagle-eyed collectors, a quality Flack fully appreciates. “They have a beautiful eye and already had a strong collection, having collected from Geoffrey Hatty over the years,” he says, referring to the beloved treasure trove of vintage furniture and objets d’art in Cremorne, Melbourne. “It was a beautiful starting point because from that I understood them. It’s like collecting art – it’s a portal to discovering someone’s personality – and I could pretty much just talk about materials and furniture and set the direction.”

Playing a crucial supporting role to the structure’s simplicity are the views of quintessentially rural Australian surrounds – “incredible panoramic landscapes” – that make Hilltop feel expansive in its scope of vision.

While a lifetime of curating cherished pieces would naturally bring about thoughts of a generous space to showcase them, the clients chose a different approach, guided by the Flack Studio team. Instead of going large, they went with a concise footprint where everything has just the right amount of space. The main area comprises an open-plan kitchen, living and dining zone at one end and a study and main bedroom suite at the other, while a pavilion houses a living area, three bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchenette. “It’s actually a small footprint, sitting lightly on the land,” says Flack. “It’s not at all excessive. Some holiday homes are but this is just all you need.

Playing a crucial supporting role to the structure’s simplicity are the views of quintessentially rural Australian surrounds – “incredible panoramic landscapes” – that make Hilltop feel expansive in its scope of vision. The dining area in particular has a corner devoted to the undulation of the country. Viewed through generous floor-to-ceiling expanses of glass, a cinematic slice of rural Victoria will always inspire nothing but awe, something for which Flack feels a kinship, being a country boy. Unsurprisingly, the landscape has heavily influenced the interiors in a multitude of ways. The amount of natural light filtering in and its shifting quality across the day and seasons directly influenced the colour palette.

“It was a very visceral exploration into materials as they had to feel right for the landscape and for this particular home.”

The use of a dark tone absorbs the light and reduces the heat, “whereas, in winter, it’s beautiful because the outside lights up a lot more and it’s very cosy and intimate,” says Flack. “It was a very visceral exploration into materials as they had to feel right for the landscape and for this particular home.”

Inside, the material mix mirrors the clients’ bowerbird collection of furnishings. Various marbles from Artedomus form a Tetris-like tapestry at the entry – “those beautiful little, tight nuances when you arrive and that kaleidoscope of marble” – contrasting gloriously in tone and texture to the terracotta tiles and Mafi herringbone flooring underfoot. The ceilings are awash in a stone-like lime-plaster finish by Bishop Master Finishes, both echoing the instinctive marble blend and the neutral tones of the landscape.

A statement of intent can be found at the front door – a vintage Gio Ponti door pull the clients found at Geoffrey Hatty.

The material interplay doesn’t stop there, with terrazzo flooring in the bathroom and American oak joinery, hammered brass, steel framing and a variety of tactile glass panels having been utilised in just the bar alone. “You see how the bar works with all these different shapes, sizes and proportions and it’s like mixed media – metal, stainless steel, stone, black steel. So there’s a contemporary modernist sensibility in smaller areas then it opens up to more expansive forms.”

A statement of intent can be found at the front door – a vintage Gio Ponti door pull the clients found at Geoffrey Hatty. Its mix of tones and textures has been taken to the max and pushing that door open reveals a good portion of furniture pieces from Europe. This perhaps also explains the confident Milanese aesthetic also found within, centred around a living area grounded by a plush olive-green velvet Raffles sofa by Vico Magistretti for DePadova, a blackened steel coffee table from Geoffrey Hatty and a vintage Geravsoni bamboo day bed and merlot-leather-upholstered Sheriff chair by Sergio Rodrigues from Nicholas & Alistair.

The amount of natural light filtering in and its shifting quality across the day and seasons directly influenced the colour palette.

“Collecting really significant vintage furniture makes you have an appreciation for craftsmanship, quality and materials,” adds Flack. The kaleidoscopic harmony of the objects and art within only extends Hilltop’s colour scheme into a characterful vein indicative of its owners. “They’re just very sensitive to colour and it was one thing they really wanted to be involved in.”

The visual and visceral feel of this tonal palette also brings Hilltop’s personality to life. “Everything’s very tactile,” says Flack. “There’s burnt terracotta, and then you’ve got leathered granite, mottled and hammered brass, and brushed, stainless and blackened steel. So there’s all different types of materials, which is what we love most, but how you interrogate them and how they fit within the space I think is really important.”

The kaleidoscopic harmony of the objects and art within only extends Hilltop’s colour scheme into a characterful vein indicative of its owners.

A connection with the clients built on trust has allowed Flack and his team to instill Hilltop with a striking presence. “But I think that’s why the house feels so incredible because you look at it and you immediately kind of get it, don’t you? It doesn’t look like it’s afraid of its personality.”

Interior design by Flack Studio. Artwork by Glenn Barkley, Benjamin Barretto, Stephen Bush, Yvette Coppersmith, Teelah George, Kait James, Josey Kidd-Crowe, Gian Manik, Marlee McMahon, Sanné Mestrom, Nell, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Caroline Rothwell and Isadora Vaughan.