Welcome to our Houses special awards issue, which is dedicated to the exceptional houses, apartments and gardens that have been recognized in the 2023 Houses Awards. This year’s winners demonstrate the resourceful ways that architects and designers can untangle the constraints of site, climate and context to reveal joyful and responsive homes that enrich domestic life.
The highest accolade, Australian House of the Year, is awarded to Michael Lumby with Nielsen Jenkins for Merricks Farmhouse. Ambitious and accomplished, this courtyard house demonstrates a masterful handling of scale and consummate affinity between house and landscape. From private bathing spaces to sheltered terraces and lofty living zones, this is a home with plentiful opportunities for connection to place and to others.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, and a big thank you to our partners, whose endors-ement of the Houses Awards is testament to their support of the Australian design community: Cult, Artedomus, the Australian Institute of Horticulture, Blum, Brickworks, the Heritage Council of Victoria, James Hardie, Sussex, Taubmans and Latitude.
Alexa Kempton, editor
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