Toodyay Art Shack on Avon River - Stayz Holiday Home Awards finalist 2019

Celebrity judge, Wendy Moore had this to say about your property: A fabulously modern take of the iconic Australian shed, this takes cool rustic style to a new level. Fabulous looks, with an unfussy style.

Toodyay Art Shack is close to town centre, avon river, public transport. You’ll love our place because of the ambience , the views, the people, the art, the place. Our place is good for couples, adventurers, business travellers, families (with kids), big groups, and furry friends (pets).

Located on the banks of the Avon River, you can relax and breathe in the clean country air. This art filled and completely modern building with its tent inspired roof form, doors that slide away creating rooms that become part of the landscape, contemporary open bathrooms, even the outside toilet has a view to the flood plains of the Avon. There is lower and upper private decks with an outdoor bath for the brave. A source of experience and inspiration. Be advised, this is a experience away from your normal experience of house and if you are looking for something different and communal then the Art Shack could be for you. Please read reviews on all web sites to see it the Art Shack is for you.

There is an abundance of native bird life on the floodplain and even the odd pelican fly by. With uninterrupted views of the hills and surrounding landscape from the upper level. There are walking tracks in front of the property allowing access through a variety of floodplain woodlands. A large picnic table is located on the upper level and offers spectacular light over the surrounding countryside especially at dawn and dusk. The booking calender sets out the yearly climate cycle in the Nyoongar's 6 seasons rather than the European 4. This produces a far more intricate and subtle overview on the shift between seasons.

Constructed from an evocative palette of brick, timber and steel, and put together in a way that makes you want to touch every element, this is a house that wants you to know that it has been built by hand. The house is raw, in some ways more reminiscent of a tent or a tree house than the triple-front brick homes of the Perth suburbs.

From the street, this house presents like a traditional cottage; its wide corrugated steel verandah with timber posts fits the image of what you might expect to see in a country town. The house quickly transforms, however, and shows itself to be anything but the expected.

It has a lot in common with the classic, place-responsive designs of what we might think of as ‘traditional’ farm houses and beach shacks; designs that consider their place in regards to the sun, the climate and the seasons. Compared to what is now considered a ‘standard’ style of home in WA - the lazy, humdrum brick and tile ‘designs’ that seem to spread endlessly along our coast and up in to our hills - this house is indeed unusual, but only because it reacts to its place instead of ignoring it.

The arrangement of spaces within makes one pause and consider their function in a way that most homes will not. The centre is the warm core; a kitchen, dining and lounge room with a snuggly nook, dominated by a wood burning stove for heat and an off-form corrugated concrete ceiling to keep it all in. It brings to mind pioneer cottages and cold nights in the bush, while also opening up at either end to wide decks for warm days and cool breezes.

Move out from the centre of the house and the rooms become more open. Expected functions and movements are reinterpreted when to reach the bathrooms one must exit on to the verandahs around the house. It's a very different way of living.

Taking the stairs to the first floor brings you to a large open-air deck and three small separate rooms around it - a studio, a tea room, and a bedroom tower. Expecting an internal space and instead finding yourself on a covered balcony with views to the hills is a joyful moment.

One can imagine sitting under the roof with friends or family, sharing a drink as the sun goes down before retreating to your individual sleep/read/play room.

“Seeing the river flow by from the first floor, experiencing the sunset behind the hill across the river each day, feeling connected to the floodplain’s rich bird life – every day is different and the house lets it all in,”

Location

The name Toodyay is translated from the Nyoongar (Australian Aboriginal) word, Duidgee, which means ‘place of plenty’, referring to the richness and fertility of the area. The town was known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, and is located on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 85 kilometres (53 miles) north-east of Perth on Ballardong Nyoongar land. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, the town site was moved to its current location in the 1860s. It is connected by railway and road to Perth. During the 1860s, it was home to bushranger Moondyne Joe.

Flowing through Toodyay is the beautiful Avon River on which the world’s longest white-water race, the Avon Descent, is held each year. You can enjoy a peaceful picnic at Toodyay’s Duidgee Park where there are barbeque facilities, childrens playgrounds, public toilets and a miniature railway. Also located within the Shire are the Avon Valley National Park and numerous reserves that become a blaze of colour with magnificent displays of wildflowers during the spring months.

Philosophy

A fusion of memory and design come together to create this climatic, regressive, unique piece of accommodation. The Toodyay Art Shack brings together 25 years of experience in art and design, numerous design awards, unique modern architecture, a private eclectic art collection and local access to Toodyay's food, wine and its wonderful location. Note: This is a Shack and as such has some inventive use space and materials and experimental spatial orientations, children under 12 may need supervision.

In staying at the Art Shack, we would like to share this art collection of wonderful modern artistic images and sculptures from local Western Australian artists including Merrick Belyea, Jon Tarry, Paul Caporn, Nic Crompton, Michael Doherty, Ivan Bray, Pillip Berry, Dante Beela-Ruth, Clayton Bradbury, Clint Walker, Briony Paul, Chris Ha, Geoff Green-Armitage, Pippin Drysdale, Marcus Canning, Emma Langridge, Charlton Sadlo, John Cullinane, Theo Koning, George Howlett, Marian Giles, Marcia Espinosa, Gloria Regan Jackson, Susan Roux, Zhanna Kolpakova, Sharon White and Tom O'Hern (Tasmanian artist). Please feel free to let us know if you would like to contact any of the artists.

The kitchen is set up for self catering and has a multi function oven, gas cook top, meter's wood fire oven, wood fire box heating and a large refrigerator. It is well appointed with cookware, appliances, crockery, glassware and kitchen utensils.

Bed linen, mattress covers, quilts, pillows, tablecloths and tea-towels are supplied.

The Toodyay town centre is only a few minutes drive away where you will find The Toodyay Bakery, which has great coffee and is the producer of Australia's Best Pastie. Close to the bakery is Christmas 360, one of Australia's best Christmas shops. Wineries in the area are well worth a visit, including Coorinja for excellent port and Alicia Estate where honey mead is made by traditional methods.

Toodyay also has a supermarket, pharmacy, butcher shop, bottle shop, newsagency, post office, barber shop, hairdresser, pub, cafes, restaurants, doctors rooms and other shops and services, all within 1km from the house. The Toodyay Golf Club is only 5 km south of the town if you feel like playing a round or the historic Toodyay oval is within walking distance of the property.

The Avon Link train runs to and from Perth and Northam daily. More information on bookings and local activities are available from the Toodyay Information Centre.

Photographs by Luke Carter Wilton

As featured in

Fabric Quarterly Issue#2 (on Cover)
Toodyay Shack

Green Magazine No 56
Sophisticated Shack - A Creative Hideaway Tree Change

Toodyay Shack is shortlisted for The Interior Excellence Awards 2017 (IDEA) in the Single House Category

Toodyay Shack was shortlisted for the Houses Awards 2017 (National over 200m2 Category).

Archizineand various links:
Dwell Magazine
Arch Daily
under Paul Wakelam Architect