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Of all the architectural looks to come and go, it's the self-conscious Post Modernism that's the one likely best left behind. Such was the case with the original house that this dramatic residence by designer Grant Bindon has all but replaced entirely.

"This expansive country home started life as an alteration to an existing single-level Post Modern masonry house," says Bindon. "However, it soon evolved into a significant rebuild when we realised that the timber floor was rotten throughout. As a result only a handful of exterior walls remained in the original core of the house, effectively creating a new build."

This gave the designer the freedom to push the envelope and create a clean, modern and much-expanded residence.

"The owners wanted a European-look masonry home that would be something different to the large number of masonry homes in the vicinity," says Bindon. "In addition, the colour scheme, materiality and form of the design had to be respectful to the wider rural context."

The only things recognisable from the original design are the three gabled forms that front what is now the central section of the two level, double axis home. The original gables were all but obscured by the pipe-work and clutter of their Post Modernism character, while the reworked versions are strong, crisp and defined.

"The new design is characterised by these linear gable roof forms, an attention to symmetry right across the home and by the cladding combination of rendered plaster and vertical Western red cedar shiplap weatherboards. The dark standing-seam roofing adds to the modern, honest look.

In terms of room layouts, the central axis follows the footprint of the original home and contains garages, the entry, a grand staircase, a kitchen space and the formal living room a run of rooms culminating in the cedar-ceiling outdoor living space trained on the T-shaped pool.

Intersecting this main axis, a hallway links to the west wing addition. The wing contains the formal lounge, a media room, and games room, together with three bedrooms, bathrooms and service spaces. As with the central part of the home the new wing ends with an alfresco living area with a rich-toned cedar ceiling. This outdoor space includes a suspended daybed and an in-built wood fire.

In the new second storey, the master bedroom and attached master living space stretch along the home's perpendicular connecting axis it's hip roof running across the home's central roof form.

A new pool house includes a sauna, gymnasium, and steam room at one end, with a guest bed and bathroom at other. This also has an indoor-outdoor living area that includes a bar, barbecue and fireplace.

It's both the reinvented and brand new gables that give the home its European character, and these are repeated again on the pool house. However, while the two principal gables on the house have fully glazed fronts that flood light into the cathedral-ceiling spaces, the lesser gables and pool house have a different treatment.

The upper section of these contrasting gables are in western cedar, complementing the cedar soffits and poolhouse ceiling.

Story by: Charles Moxham

Photography by: Duncan Innes