Victoria’s Horizon: A Modern Luxury Holiday House on Great Ocean Road
This Victorian holiday house is the creation of a forward-thinking builder who loves gadgets
I’m always chasing rainbows, as Judy Garland sang back in the day. Driving west along Victoria’s sinuous Great Ocean Road, I see chunks of rainbow around almost every headland as Southern Ocean sea spray and Otway Ranges mist mingle in the wintry sunlight.
They are always incomplete and just beyond. Until I arrive at Horizon holiday house, where a full, vividly coloured rainbow, arching across the grey sky from headland to ocean, greets me through a wall of glass. The chase is over. I settle into one of the open-plan living area’s window-side recliners to watch nature’s show until it fades, then explore this minimalist-meets-luxury property’s more enduring pleasures.
Completed late last year, Horizon won its owner David Moyle the regional residential builder of the year at the 2023 Master Builders Victoria western region awards. Moyle, who was the Master Builders Australia young builder of the year in 2016, has long been drawn to what he describes as this “beautiful part of the world”.
He now escapes here with his family every few weeks.
“I enjoy the property through winter,” Moyle tells me. “I love seeing the storms come through, and the colder weather. My wife and children prefer summer; they love the beach.”
That secluded sandy beach is a short walk away, below the steep, terraced hillside Horizon is built into. Its two storeys overlook another holiday house, from an era when family retreats along the , including in this coastal hamlet of Separation Creek, were usually modest. Moyle’s house is considerably more ambitious and monumental. With four bedrooms and three bathrooms, the structure sweeps forward into an emphatic architectural point reaching toward the ocean.
It’s very much the holiday house of a successful, forward-thinking 21st century builder, whose pride is evident in the build-related items gathered on a bench: architect’s model, designs, specifications and photos of its construction in progress.
The end result features a handful of building materials employed with an honesty of design, including oiled timber and steel both raw and rusted. There is nearly 1000 tonnes of concrete, from buffed floors to polished benches to walls that don’t hide their horizontal layers. Moyle observes that all this concrete’s thermal mass naturally stabilises the house’s temperature in both hot and cold weather (but there is also aircon and in-slab hydronic heating if needed).
A rooftop garden, whose seaside succulents tumble attractively down the window-wall of the main floor’s master bedroom, also provides natural insulation. The landscape designer planted nearly 400 natives around the property to help rejuvenate the land (though it will take a few years before they flourish).
There is a balancing act between nature and the latest design and technology at Horizon. That panoramic vista of ocean and bushland is showcased at every opportunity, including from the broad, sheltered balcony, and reflected in occasional abstract paintings and large, framed photographs.
ood-fired pizza oven (with all the kit required) are outside, while the living room’s Gyrofocus suspended metal fireplace throws off heat and retro style in equal measure.
Conversely, anything that can be, from those recliners to the front door to blinds and curtains, operates at the touch of a button rather than keys, switches or hands. Luddites be warned. I’m astonished by the size of the living room’s 85-inch TV, and all over again by the even larger projector screen that, like all the entertainment, is controlled via an app.
Evidently Moyle has always been a gadget guy. His major year 12 project is among the lower-level rumpus room’s diversions, which also include an imported, highly polished shuffleboard. He recalls it required more than 1000 hours to build his billiards-mini-golf hybrid, which has various colourful moving parts (though it’s so precious that paying guests are, understandably, requested not to turn the table on and see them in action).
I kick back on the more adults-oriented upper level, which includes the best of the two master bedrooms, and a spacious kitchen and butler’s pantry with all the mod cons such as induction cooktop and big Bezzera coffee machine. The pizza oven, fireplace and super-sized screens offer ample distraction after the view fades to black. Sprawled on the large, grey, modular leather lounges, I wonder how anyone staying at Horizon gets motivated to go anywhere.
Come morning, the superking bed’s comfort and view also makes motivation hard to find, and it’s difficult to call time in the en suite’s walk-in shower, flooded with calming natural light from the skylight. Then, just before I really must head home, another rainbow appears through those cinematic windows.
It arches perfectly across the sky, and this time looks almost close enough to touch. So close the colours are like Willy Wonka’s candy, and the whole rainbow gently pulses, as if electrified. I’m having another Judy Garland moment, somewhere over the rainbow.
Eat
Take advantage of two top regional restaurants’ proximity: chef Dan Hunter’s internationally renowned Brae, and hot new Sydney import Totti’s. Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery offers more casual eats, both savoury and especially sweet, including a Chocolate Discovery class showcasing pretty handmade truffles. The extensive shop has treats for all tastes.
Drink
Local craft beverages abound at Apollo Bay Distillery, Otway Estate winery, brewery and distillery, and Great Ocean Road Brewhouse, whose Tastes of the Region shop’s souvenir temptations include gourmet foods.
Explore
Great Otway National Park, including beaches, forest trails, waterfalls and the 1848 Cape Otway Light Station, is on Horizon’s doorstep. The 12 Apostles are 115km west along the Great Ocean Road, alongside other Port Campbell National Park coastal highlights such as Loch Ard Gorge, The Grotto and London Arch.
Essentials
Horizon is about 150km southwest of central Melbourne, 17km beyond Lorne. From $1981 a night, minimum three nights, for up to 10 people.
Patricia Maunder was a guest of Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism.
