Longwood House showcases craftsmanship while capturing the beauty of the land and paying homage to its past.
Extending their cultivated history of crafting to their most recent project – Longwood House – highly integrative approach has simultaneously unified and evolved this unique family home located in Longwood valley of the Strathbogie Ranges, Victoria.
In a collaborative design effort realised through a shared alignment of design values, est explores the holistic transformation behind this historic home led by interior designer and project manager Merinda Garrett. We delve into why Merinda incorporated throughout key spaces such as the kitchen, living, bar and outdoor entertaining areas to craft a connected and sophisticated resolve.
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Longwood House was originally part of a stallion stud farm designed by an American architect and built by local craftspeople using locally-sourced stone. Consisting of a collection of original buildings, including stables and workers’ cottages, Longwood stud farm served as the perfect backdrop to establish a generous family home, ripe for entertaining and relaxing amid the valley’s idyllic surroundings.
The client engaged interior designer and project manager Merinda Garrett to transform the farm holistically. Merinda’s scope included a time-sensitive reconfiguration and complete redesign of the buildings – all on a tight, three-month timeline. The project undertaking included curation of furniture, fixtures and lighting across interior and external entertainment zones including a dining space, outdoor entertaining, a pool, landscaping and renovation of the cottages ready for guests.
Merinda set about rejigging the layout to increase flow through the home and leverage the incredible viewpoints which look out to the surrounding landscape. “The client brief was very open, with trust placed in our capacity to execute the project, which was necessary as our client was overseas for most of the site works,” Merinda says.
Next, Merinda engaged to design and supply joinery throughout Longwood Home, including the kitchen, bar, living area, theatre, and outdoor kitchen. Merinda was familiar with , having worked with them previously and knowing that they shared the same ideals on sustainability and designing for longevity, which in this case also aligned with the homeowner’s vision.
Cantilever’s EDIT kitchen system offers a gentle, refined feel within this practical and robust kitchen space.
Led by their principles of ‘designing for longevity, quality and sustainability’, the Cantilever team pride themselves on crafting high-quality kitchen and home joinery systems that are individually designed by hand and made to order for projects across Australia. Years spent exploring and crafting key touchpoints within a home has defined Cantilever’s aesthetic and values and formed the foundation upon which their interior service is built.
The design vision for Longwood Home was to create a subtle and soft interior that allowed the home’s architectural qualities to shine through while encouraging the eye outside. Subtly blending old with new, the home features panelled ceilings, soft white walls, polished concrete floors and original window frames. A selection of white light fittings offers a sculptural quality to the spacious rooms and delivers a human scale to each space.
Longwood House weaves together myriad tonal sentiments framed by Cantilever’s definitive mastery of joinery and use of materials. “The project palette was inspired by the external environment and the changing colours of the landscape throughout the different seasons. It was important for the joinery to support this brief while also helping to warm and soften the large interior spaces,” Cantilever creative director Kylie Forbes says.
“The materiality of Cantilever’s EDIT kitchen system really aligned with the architecture and the stone featured in the original building; the details are very refined.”
– Interior designer and project manager Merinda Garrett
Artist Caoife Power’s ‘Complete Link’, 2021 painting complements the palette and curved form applied within the EDIT kitchen system by Cantilever Interiors.
The painting ‘Blushes – Ocean’ by artist Morgana Celeste and Speckled White Ceramic vase by ceramicist Simone Karras both mimic the palette found in the surrounding farmland and pick up on the timber tones of the Jardan dining table and tan leather chairs.
Longwood Home is punctuated by curated, modern artworks by Caoife Power and Morgana Celeste and layered with ceramic pieces by Simone Karras, Ella Bendrups and Emily Ellis among other artists. features in each living area, inspired by the colours of the changing seasons; ochre tones, blues, cream and grey grounded by the joinery.
Merinda specified variations of throughout the home. “The materiality of EDIT really aligned with the architecture and the stone featured in the original building; the details are very refined. The integration of appliances was seamless in the design, and it was a very quick process, which is what was needed,” Merinda explains. Longwood House’s generous space showcases the quality of the materials behind EDIT which includes American Oak veneer, solid timber finger pulls, handles and curved corner detailing. These elements have been paired with natural stone benchtops and powder-coated steel plate shelving which add a modern touch.
Cantilever’s refined kitchen systems allow the designer to configure each ‘block’ into countless layout options while also allowing the integration of appliances to fit seamlessly into the final design. “I love the kitchen; really it’s the jewel in the crown. It has that beautiful warm stone and tactility to it, I love the way the light moves through the kitchen space, it’s just so inviting,” Merinda says. In Longwood Home, EDIT elements also include a dedicated bar solution, adjacent to the kitchen space, whereby the materials and design complement it perfectly with the continued use of American Oak timber and Italian Elba Honed marble.
Extending outside, the outdoor kitchen provides a practical and streamlined entertaining hub for the family – complete with all the necessary elements to host outdoor events, including an integrated fridge and BBQ. The stainless-steel kitchen casts a contemporary aesthetic against the black and stone backdrop, and the flexibility of the EDIT system lends itself to a ‘whole-home’ approach to design.
This approach also enabled Merinda to specify complementary joinery throughout the home across multiple zones, for example, a timber EDIT sideboard piece was designed to accommodate a television; hidden from view. This feature centres the function of the home to be primarily one of respite and connection to place, by prioritising views through the windows at every opportunity.
Connected by a consistent palette and cohesive joinery across the home, EDIT fuses each space with soft sophistication. “Working to highlight the home’s architectural features, such as the high vault ceiling and original windows, EDIT settles into the building harmoniously bringing a lovely warmth and tactility,” Kylie says. The project teams’ collaboration worked to create a timeless family home with an elegant and inviting aesthetic, aimed to encourage a coming together.
Cantilever’s EDIT outdoor kitchen in stainless steel provides a central, practical and streamlined entertaining zone for the family and their guests.
The architectural quality of the building, with high vault ceilings, masonry walls, original stonework and windows provided scope to realise an impactful design.
“Cantilever has always aligned itself with high integrity projects and worked with the trade group really well, it was an alignment of values.”
– Interior designer and project manager Merinda Garrett
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