Melody House
Cadence & Co’s Melody House draws on the legacy of Richard Neutra’s Edgar J. Kaufmann House to distil the spirit of mid-century modernism into a contemporary family home of restrained luxury.
Cadence & Co has completed the design and construction of Melody House, a family residence set among the rolling hills and established deciduous trees of Mittagong in New South Wales’ Southern Highlands. The region’s cool climate, gentle light and distinct seasonal shifts influenced everything that Cadence & Co brought to the creative process, from the home’s orientation and construction method to the interior elements and materials.
Northern Beaches-based Cadence & Co is a design-led practice and collective of architects, interior designers, craftspeople and builders, who bring the same commitment to exceptional design and craftsmanship to every project. Its work spans bespoke new builds and whole-home renovations, as well as landmark luxury residences, from coastal retreats to city dwellings. More than 40 designers and architects work across two studios, collaborating closely to translate the character of each location and the aspirations of each client into every decision.
Inspired by Richard Neutra’s iconic Edgar J. Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, Melody House distils the spirit of mid-century modernism into a contemporary family home of restrained luxury. Its steel posts, flat planes and cantilevered roofline carry an unmistakable architectural lineage, tempered by timber lining board, broad, finely framed glazing and a three-dimensional beamed ceiling design that adds warmth and distinction to each space of the house.
The living zones are designed to cultivate both connection and retreat. Shared spaces feel open and fluid, anchored by a floor-to-ceiling fireplace that opens equally to the kitchen and dining areas, drawing the household together around warmth and conversation. Personal spaces, by contrast, embrace softness and seclusion. And when the season calls for it, the home opens completely to embrace country breezes and the changing landscape beyond, amplifying its volume and outlook.
Music-making is integral to this family’s identity, and it shapes the home accordingly. A dedicated, acoustically tuned music room, scaled for intimate, focused creativity, sits at the heart of the home. At the same time, the broader living spaces have been treated to ensure sound quality that elevates everyday life.
The interior palette is warm yet deliberately restrained, allowing the rich seasonal colours and ever-shifting moods of the Southern Highlands to become part of the lived experience, not merely a view. Stone plays a leading role throughout, with green Vitoria Regia quartzite, dark Breccia Imperiale and a luminous trio of white travertine, Matira quartzite and Sivec marble grounding the interiors in texture and permanence.
Melody House is built for longevity. Its modernist foundations are timeless and quietly nostalgic, its contemporary clarity purposeful and precise. Harmony is expressed everywhere, in the relationship between light and texture, between interior and landscape, between the architecture and the seasons that move through it. This is a home designed to evolve with its family, a place to grow into, not out of.
