What defines each Australian home style, from the ornate Victorian and relaxed Edwardian eras to coastal-classic Hamptons and clean contemporary. For each look: the facade cues, the builder designs on our platform that match it, and how to furnish it. Framed for South Australia and Victoria.
Period & heritage eras
The historical styles you restore, or borrow proportions from when building new.
The most ornate era of Australian housing. In Adelaide and Melbourne the Victorian home means a symmetrical front, a cast-iron or timber-lace bullnose verandah, high ceilings and a formal hallway, in bluestone, sandstone or red brick.
Lighter and more relaxed than the Victorian era that came before it. Red brick, a terracotta-tiled roof with gables and a turret or bay, timber fretwork, leadlight windows and a return verandah, the optimistic look of a new nation around 1900 to 1915.
The homes built between the wars, roughly 1915 to 1940. Two very different looks sit side by side: the low, solid California Bungalow with its tapered porch piers, and the rendered, geometric glamour of Art Deco and streamline moderne.
The optimistic post-war look, roughly the 1950s to 1970s. Low-slung and horizontal, with flat or low-pitch roofs, post-and-beam structure, walls of glass, and a seamless connection between inside and the garden.
Contemporary styles
Current looks you can build new, from coastal-classic Hamptons to clean contemporary and the modern farmhouse.
The relaxed coastal-classic look that borrows from America's north-east: pale weatherboard or render, steep gabled roofs, shuttered windows, a portico entry and a calm white-and-navy palette. One of the most requested new-build styles in Adelaide and Melbourne.
The default language of the current new build: clean horizontal lines, mixed render, cladding and feature timber, large dark-framed glazing, a low or flat-look roof, and open-plan living that pushes to the rear and the light.
The relaxed Australian beach-house look. Lighter and more casual than its formal Hamptons cousin: weatherboard and natural timber, bright whites, raw textures, and an easy open plan built around sun, breeze and the outdoors.
The rural-contemporary look that reworks the Australian shed and farmhouse: a simple, strong gable barn form, vertical cladding, black window frames and a Colorbond roof, built for acreage, lifestyle blocks and anyone who loves an honest, agricultural silhouette.
See how the Australian home changed decade by decade, or browse every design in our library and filter by the look you love.
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