Somewhere in the Dandenong Ranges, on 3.7 acres of rolling hills, Sequoia redwood forest, and apparently commercially-licensed natural spring water, someone built a house with an indoor rock pool under a glass rotunda dome. Not a spa. Not a lap pool. An indoor tropical lagoon with a stone waterfall feature, a palm tree, yellow mosaic tile edging, and — hanging directly above it from the mezzanine balcony — a full string of multicoloured fairy lights. We have questions about the fairy lights. We have many questions about the fairy lights. We are going to move past the fairy lights.
The mezzanine balcony from which the fairy lights hang is the second best thing in this house. It overlooks the pool from above, runs the full internal circumference of the rotunda, and comes equipped with a vintage brass telescope on a tripod, a small table and two chairs, and what appears to be a planter box. This is where you eat breakfast. This is where you watch it rain on the glass dome overhead. This is where you look down at your indoor rock pool and feel, briefly, like a person who has made excellent decisions.
The rest of the house is doing a lot too. The main living area has exposed timber ceiling beams, floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides looking straight into the bush, a chandelier, an open fireplace, a carved dining set, and a taxidermied deer head on the wall between the windows that is, in context, barely even noticeable. The study has stained glass panels on the doors, two full-height timber bookcases, and a cuckoo clock. The rumpus room has slate flagstone floors and is furnished almost entirely in raw timber and wagon wheels, which as a design language we can only describe as ‘committed.’
The listing also mentions a commercial spring water bore with a licence to bottle and sell the natural spring water from the property, which is technically the most unusual feature here and yet somehow the fourth or fifth most interesting thing we noticed. There is a Sequoia redwood forest on the property. There are four large water tanks. There is a commercial shed. None of that matters at all compared to the pool. Holy. Entire. Indoor. Rock. Pool.
