Conceived as a celebration of both outlook and privacy, Mount Martha Courtyard House is a carefully calibrated response to site, landscape and family life. Designed by Kister Architects, the home is a robust yet contemplative holiday retreat on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula—one that provides shelter, sanctuary and space to slow down.

Approached to create a new multigenerational holiday home in Mount Martha, Director Ilana Kister worked closely with the clients to shape a house grounded in connection to place. The brief called for a private retreat that would allow the family to rest and restore, while still embracing the expansive coastal outlooks of the gently sloping, exposed site. The resulting design carefully balances openness and enclosure, creating moments of reprieve without severing ties to the surrounding landscape.

From the street, the home reveals little. The majority of the built volume is deliberately concealed behind a sculptural charred timber wall, creating a sense of privacy and intrigue. This restrained frontage allows the architecture to unfold gradually, revealing itself through movement and transition rather than immediate spectacle. Wrapped in nature, the plan is inward-looking yet expansive—anchored by a courtyard that becomes the heart of the home.

Materiality plays a central role in reinforcing this connection to place. Externally and internally, timber is used with intention, continuing seamlessly across ceilings, walls and key joinery elements. This continuity adds warmth, depth and rhythm, while constantly referencing nature and fine-grained imperfection. The material palette is deliberately minimal, yet richly layered—inviting touch and encouraging stillness.

In wet areas, natural-coloured tiles subtly expand the palette. Selected to echo local foliage and coastal tones, they bring softness and a sense of grounding to functional spaces. These thoughtful material choices ensure the home sits comfortably within its environment, rather than competing with it.

Moments of playfulness and pause are carefully embedded throughout the design. Curves are introduced to soften the otherwise angular envelope, creating visual relief and a gentle counterpoint to the home’s robust form. “I like to integrate curves as they soften the harsh lines, create interesting shadows and bring us back to nature,” explains Kister. This approach is beautifully expressed through the oculus—a simple yet distinctive void lined in black—that draws the eye upward and invites a moment of reflection.

Lighting throughout the home is functional yet intentionally restrained, designed to enhance rather than dominate. Track and adjustable spot lighting are used to provide flexibility and precision, ensuring spaces can adapt to different moods and uses without visual clutter. The Leon track and ceiling lights in white are integrated seamlessly into the architecture, allowing illumination to quietly support the materiality, form and flow of the home.

Featured in The Local Project, Mount Martha Courtyard House is a considered expression of architecture that prioritises privacy, connection and calm. It is a home that reveals itself slowly—rewarding time, attention and presence—much like the slower country days it was designed to celebrate.