Nestled in the bucolic landscape of Romsey in the shire of Macedon, Victoria, Villa Rotunda is both at-home in its surrounds and the focal point of attention. The building was once a Victorian-era country cottage and former schoolhouse, but after a splendid transformation by WOWOWA it has become an exemplary contemporary home with a difference.
The inspiration for the design comes from the pavilion at Edinburgh Gardens in North Fitzroy, Melbourne, that evokes memories of the time that the home was built in. The name takes its cue from Villa La Rotonda, a Renaissance villa outside Vicenza in northern Italy.
WOWOWA’s Villa Rotunda plays with these geometries and takes the form to new heights. As part of the reimagining of the home, the inclusion of this circular feature as the primary living space pays deference to a bygone era but is updated for a modern setting. While this is an alteration and addition, the former cottage has been retained, remodelled and reconfigured. A large tree on the property, alongside the house, was pivotal to the project and became the perfect companion to the new design.
Monique Woodward, director, WOWOWA reflects on the project: “It’s obviously quite challenging when so much of our work is trying to engage with decolonisation, to then renovate a highly colonial Victorian cottage and reflect on what that might look like – what visual language was appropriate? And so, for us, it was about how do you make this decidedly Australian, to sit small in the landscape where the old shed was and be made from real materials coming from the earth and sourced locally, such as the rammed earth walls and the timber ceilings? How could we repair the site is always our first question.”
The floor plan is straightforward and there is perfect flow to the spatial planning. A new entry to the home was included, centrally located between the rotunda and a mudroom in the original structure. Moving through the house, a hallway leads from the butler’s pantry and open-plan kitchen and dining area through to a sitting room at the front, two bedrooms and a bathroom on one side, and the main bedroom with an ensuite and a drawing room on the other. The entrance to the living room in the rotunda is from the kitchen and dining room.
“We reorganised the floor plan but reused many of the existing doors and stain glass windows [and] moved them into different places,” says Woodward. “The key to renovations is circularity, legacy of quality materials and delight – to champion what is great then embellish what’s left to make it magnificent.”
Ah that rotunda. As to be expected from the imaginative design minds of WOWOWA and with Woodward as lead on the project, the feature of this home is unique and beautiful. The rotunda takes the best from the old in form and recreates it in a most Australian way through materiality. Instead of painted stucco there is rammed earth of yellow clay, with the addition of ingredients from a nearby quarry.
The rammed earth walls add texture, and shadow lines appear and disappear on the walls depending on the season and time of day. Timbers line the majestic domed ceiling, creating a feeling of warmth through a cornucopia of brown hues. The floor is tumbled travertine tiles with pink grouting, and a bespoke rug beneath the furniture grouping adds the finishing touch.
Related: Hermon by WOWOWA Architecture is eclectic to the core
The soothing colour palette for the interior is awash with mints and shades of greens, pale pinks, terracotta and cream and they infuse the home with a restful ambience. For example, the kitchen joinery is the green of gum leaves, with an Atlas Verde Gris granite slab topping the island bench and cupboards, as well as strategically placed as splashbacks on walls. A hint of gold trim under the architraves marries with brushed brass fittings and the totality of the design is sophisticated and refined.
Woodward comments: “It’s about how you make the house feel consistent, to feel whole from the old to the new, not two separate areas. We use yummy colours and joyful textures to create a feeling of home.”
The original timber floorboards have been renewed throughout, except for the tiled mudroom and rotunda, and the warm browns complement the cream, greige and green painted walls. Bathrooms are tiled with a spectrum of greens, including a yellowish shade or pear green on cabinetry. Aged brass fittings add a mellow patina to the whole.
Filmy fabric has been included as curtains and blinds and, while they provide a modicum of privacy, there are veiled views to the outside garden. Wall lights add a modern touch, and windows are double glazed.
In all, Villa Rotunda is the ideal residence for country living. Sympathetic to its surrounds and defined by its form, this is a home that is comfortable and beautifully detailed. On its own, the home would be charming, but include the reimagined rotunda and its circular form, and the design rises to another level of architecture and design.
What’s not to love about Villa Rotunda? It has it all and WOWOWA has created a little slice of paradise under that domed rotunda roof that certainly has, yes you guessed it, the WOW factor.
Next up: Burnt Earth Beach House materialises from the ashes of a dilapidated beach shack