Luxury $6m Cape Schanck home by award-winning architect Garry Emery listed in National Estate enclave

An award-winning designer’s bold coastal retreat, created by one of Australia’s top architects is up for sale — and it’s unlike anything else on the Mornington Peninsula. SEE INSIDE

Award-winning designer Garry Emery is selling his sculptural Cape Schanck home, designed by renowned architects Denton Corker Marshall and winner of the 2000 Robin Boyd Award.

One of the Mornington Peninsula’s most striking and significant homes — a bold, minimalist retreat designed by renowned firm Denton Corker Marshall — has hit the market for the first time since it was built.

Owned by award-winning designer Garry Emery, 4 Fingal Court, Cape Schanck sits within the exclusive gated National Estate — a coastal enclave of 50 homes surrounded by native bushland and golf fairways.

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The three-bedroom property, set on 4129sq m, is being offered for private sale with a price guide of $5.5m-$6m through Kay & Burton Flinders.

The home was commissioned by Mr Emery in the late 1990s and went on to win the 2000 Robin Boyd Award — Australia’s highest residential architecture honour — for its dramatic sculptural form and integration with the landscape.

“We didn’t want a predictable beach house,” Mr Emery said.

Hovering above the tea trees, the Cape Schanck residence at 4 Fingal Court is one of the Mornington Peninsula’s most significant examples of minimalist coastal architecture.

Inside, the home blends raw materials and refined finishes — including concrete floors, maple timber, and sweeping ocean views — in a setting of total privacy.

“The site had these incredible views and this natural serenity, so the vision was to create something refined, quiet — but powerful in its design.”

Mr Emery, a graphic designer whose studio has worked on major civic and cultural projects across Australia and abroad, has collaborated with Denton Corker Marshall for decades — including on the Australian embassies in Beijing, Tokyo and Jakarta.

“There was a great deal of trust,” he said.

The open-plan living area features a suspended steel hearth, polished concrete flooring and panoramic views.

The kitchen is finished in stainless steel and maple veneer.

“We gave them permission to go beyond the ordinary, and they delivered something exceptional – I didn’t draw it, but I helped shape what it became.”

“It’s not loud. It’s not decorative. But it’s deeply resolved — and very peaceful.”

The home’s cantilevered form — two sleek steel and concrete pavilions perched on slender columns — has been described by Kay & Burton Flinders’ Sasha Romensky as a spacecraft hovering over the tea trees.

From the upper floor, a horizontal slit window frames a cinematic sweep of Bass Strait and rolling golf fairways — views that stretch all the way to the Otways on a clear day.

“It almost feels like it’s hovering,” Mr Romensky said.

“There was nothing like it on the Peninsula then, and there’s still nothing like it now.

“It’s bold, serene, and incredibly rare.”

Mr Romensky said interest had already come in from local and international buyers — particularly creatives and design lovers who value both privacy and pedigree.

Each bedroom is designed to connect with nature, with minimalist furnishings and angled windows that frame native bushland and coastal light.

“Architecturally significant homes like this come up once in a generation,” he said.

“And with those uninterrupted views across the dunes and Bass Strait — you feel like you’re living in a moving landscape painting.”

Inside, the upper level features open-plan living, dining and kitchen zones with polished concrete floors, maple timber joinery and walls of glass framing a constantly changing seascape.

A striking suspended steel fireplace anchors the living room offers warmth and sculptural presence in the heart of the home.

A narrow horizontal window runs the full length of the ocean-facing wall, cropping the horizon like a cinematic still and it is one of Mr Emery’s favourite features of the home.

“It compresses the view in a very deliberate way — you don’t just see the coastline, you feel it.

“It becomes like a living artwork.”

The living room is anchored by a suspended steel hearth and fireplace, while the minimalist kitchen features stainless steel work surfaces and clean, uninterrupted lines.

The master suite is positioned for maximum privacy, while two more bedrooms, a bathroom and laundry sit on the ground floor, tucked into the hillside.

Behind the main house, a self-contained creative studio includes a bathroom, kitchenette, built-in cabinetry and custom stainless-steel workstations — designed for design work, writing, or as guest accommodation.

The home’s cantilevered form hovers above the landscape like a spacecraft, combining steel, glass and concrete in a bold coastal statement.

Mr Emery said the studio was used a lot for writing, creative work and hosting collaborators.

“It gave me solitude. It was like having a retreat within the retreat,” he said.

“While the home had been a grounding, inspiring place me for more than two decades, it now feels right to move on.

“The house was an idea – I’ve had the privilege of living in it and seeing people appreciate it for what it is – but homes like this don’t belong to one person forever, they have their own life cycle.”

The bathrooms reflect the home’s pared-back aesthetic, with floating vanities and frameless mirrors

He hopes the next owner understands the responsibility that comes with owning such a home.

“With houses like this, you become a custodian,” he said.

“You respect the flow, the scale, the silence.

“You don’t need to do much. You just need to let it breathe.”

“You don’t often get the chance to own a whole block like this.”

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Originally published as Luxury $6m Cape Schanck home by award-winning architect Garry Emery listed in National Estate enclave