Budget Breakdown: Near Melbourne, Former Bandmates Make a Modest House Sing for $290K

Melbourne designer David Noordhoff had already established a rhythm with clients James and Zara McGuffie long before he designed their home. Noordhoff and James had been the drummer and guitarist in a successful indie rock band, Kilns, before Noordhoff went off to architecture school.

So, when the couple purchased a small piece of land in Chewton, Australia, a town of 1,300 about 90 minutes outside Melbourne, they knew they wanted Noordhoff—despite being early in his career—to design a house that fit their lifestyle. "We just had a connection," recalls James, who first met Noordhoff over 12 years ago.

Zara and James had been living in Melbourne for over a decade, and they were looking to move outside the city when they discovered the parcel in the former mining town. Its location along the Pyrenees Highway seemed like a sign, because James had years earlier made a pilgrimage to walk Spain’s Camino de Santiago, through the Pyrenees mountain range. 

The site borders national park land, and it had recently been rezoned, so it was essentially a fresh slate. Zara and James initially considered hiring a homebuilding company, like others in the area, given the relatively remote location. "A lot of people told us we should do that because it was our first home; it’s easy and they make decisions for you," Zara says. "We kind of just kind of stuck to our guns."