Materials throughout are simple and honest – rammed earth, recycled bricks, blackbutt, terrazzo, corrugated iron and polycarbonate – taking inspiration from the family’s cabin and in keeping with its rural setting, but also chosen with sustainability in mind.

The house is made up of a series of linked rooms, courtyards and terraces, leading from one to the next, allowing a range of possibilities for navigation through the spaces. It is built around a landscaped, recycled brick-paved courtyard, essentially an outdoor living room – a space for socialising, relaxing, dining and play, and one that is ultimately adaptable. It is paved with recycled bricks and protected on three sides by the 600 mm–thick rammed earth walls of neighbouring rooms. The fourth wall opens up, via sliding solid timber barn doors, to the valley to the north-east. Those barn doors give the space maximum flexibility – completely closed, they offer a sense of security and anticipation; partly open, they frame a focused view of the land; fully open, they change the character of the courtyard, visually extending it to become part of the landscape but also, like theatre curtains, allowing its occupants to become an audience to the spectacle beyond, whether that be the weather or the clear nighttime sky.

For Sale by Private Treaty

Price Guide: On Request

Location

Set in the Lower Hunter and within the Cessnock City Council local government area, the property is located in the rolling green folds of the Wollombi Valley — quietly positioned for weekends away, yet connected to the wider Hunter.

Wollombi is just 10 minutes away for a pub lunch, provisions, and the historic village streetscape. From here, the landscape opens into a network of bushland, creeks and valley farmland—long valued for its reliable water, where the North and South Arms of Wollombi Brook meet with Yango Creek. The name “Wollombi” is widely understood as an Aboriginal term meaning “meeting place of the waters”.

The drive itself reads like a living history lesson: you follow the line of the Great North Road, the old convict-built road linking Sydney to the Hunter, where Wollombi became a stopping point for travellers moving between Wiseman’s Ferry, Singleton and Maitland.

Approximately 1.5 hours to Newcastle and the Central Coast, and around 2 hours from Sydney, the location offers a rare balance of genuine rural privacy and city access.

Above: aerial view of Wollombi (FB: visitwollombi)
Click to Discover Wollombi

A walkabout the property

Being a rural property, there’s as much to discover beyond the house as within it. Just behind the main residence, raised kitchen garden beds and a productive orchard set the tone — herbs, vegetables, and a generous fig tree in season. The chicken run sits close by for fresh eggs, while fenced paddocks and grazing ground open out to the wider holding.

Down at the edge of Wollombi Brook, the property enjoys river frontage with access rights — a place for swimming, canoeing, lazy picnics, and long afternoons on the river beach.

The working infrastructure is substantial but neatly out of the way: major rainwater storage, solar with battery support and backup power, plus a large machinery shed (approx. 10m × 8m) with secure storage rooms for tools, kit and weekend projects. And then there’s the cabin — a separate, tucked-away retreat with covered cooking, a copper fireplace, a single bedroom, and an outdoor WC: simple, rugged, and so much fun.

For Sale by Private Treaty

Price Guide: On request