There are no soft edges in architect Adam Kane’s Daylesford weekender. He used his own house to test the boundaries of design before passing ideas on to clients.

Many in the well-heeled, tree-change town of Daylesford, an hour’s drive north-west of Melbourne, adopt a country-style aesthetic in their homes. But not Kane. He has a modernist bent.

Rather than a pristine white cube (a preference of modernists as far back as Le Corbusier), the home Kane lives in with his partner and their young child is grey inside and out. Grey rendered-brick walls appear on the exterior, and polished, plastered grey walls feature on the interior and ceilings, with polished concrete floors throughout.

“It’s logical to push boundaries in your own home before you present these to clients for their places,” says Kane, who was drawn to a 2500-square-metre vacant site set in a valley and bordered by Cornish Hill, a forest reserve.

Blessed with only a few established pine trees (now planted out with more than 1000 trees and shrubs), the vacant site was literally a blank canvas – one that didn’t overlook neighbours and that benefited from the proximity to the adjacent reserve.

Conceived as an “object in the landscape”, the three-bedroom Daylesford house gives little away when you approach up a fairly steep driveway.

Its grey walls are simply rendered, with two insertions carved into the facade, one being a steel front door and canopy, and the second a small gap between walls that offers a glimpse into an enclosed courtyard.

“The week can be fairly chaotic with work, so I wanted to create a place that felt a bit like a hermit,” says Kane.

And although grey can be cold and clinical, Kane saw the mottled grey plaster walls and brushed stainless steel as quite soft. “When the light hits the walls you get these wonderful soft hues as well as the silhouettes of the garden.”

Designed in an L shape, the relatively modest 250-square-metre house responds to garden views at every turn. For Kane and his team it’s this strict alignment of garden views that allows for different experiences of the home provided by the ever-changing light.

Spaces that are slightly off-centre eliminate the need for doors. An armchair located at the end of a wing in front of a large picture window suggests a main bedroom and ensuite beyond.

Likewise, the monolithic stainless-steel bench in the kitchen is the only object in the space, hinting that there’s a substantial back-of-house butler’s pantry nearby. The sink, fridge and pantry are enclosed. However, there’s also storage in the kitchen, along with a cocktail bar fully concealed behind polished, plastered doors that appear as one continuous wall.

Unlike most dining areas that form part of the open-plan living area, the choice here was to create a separate dining area.

There’s a similar synergy in the treatment of the courtyard, with an open fireplace and plunge pool. Forget about potted shrubs lining the terrace, here there’s a concrete plinth to warm oneself by the fire, or alternatively you can relax in one of Willy Guhl’s Loop Chairs from the 1950s.

Materials such as stainless steel can be clinical. But when folded, chiselled (as in the ensuite vanity to the main bedroom) and even scrubbed with a wire brush, there’s depth and texture to be discovered.

The phrase “less is more”, a catchcry of the early modernists, can certainly be applied to the Grey House. The lounge area may only contain a singular modular lounge but views through the carefully orchestrated windows take one on a journey well beyond the traditional.

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