Pods for the boys: John Wardle-designed lakefront home in Ballarat lists with $7 million price guide

A house designed by renowned Melbourne architect John Wardle has hit the market in Ballarat, with an asking price of $6.9 million to $7.25 million, placing it in the upper echelons of homes sold in the region.

🏡 The description: Completed in 2015, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom Wardle home on Wendouree Parade comes with a wine cellar, conservatory, pool and kitchen bench stretching from one end of the house to the other. The master bedroom has its own terrace overlooking the lake.

With warm timbers, expansive windows and a brick facade, the mid-century modern-style residence aims to pay homage to “the gardens of Ballarat”, according to the project’s description on the Wardle Studio website. 

A report by Architecture Australia in April 2015 notes the owners commissioned John Wardle “on the proviso that it ‘would do justice to the lake’”.

🛶 Views on views: Based around the house’s courtyard and garden, the design consists of “three linked pavilions”, one in the living room to take in the property’s “surroundings”, another in the dining room, where the kitchen bench extends, and the conservatory, offering a vista to the outside gardens. 

Above the conservatory, Wardle designed three bedroom “pods” for each of the owners’ sons, inspired by the boathouses around the lake.

📍 Location, location, location: Wendouree Parade is one of Ballarat’s most prestigious addresses thanks to its views around Lake Wendouree, with few properties on the market for under $1 million. 

The record for the most expensive lakefront home to sell in recent years is held by a five-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion sold in 2021 for $8.25 million.

❓ Who’s the architect? John Wardle founded his studio in 1986 and has since designed dozens of notable and award-winning projects, with a focus on neutral, earthy spaces using local, natural materials. 

Wardle’s featured projects include the Victorian Heart Hospital at Monash University in Clayton, Victoria, as well as the Australia Institute for Infectious Disease at the University of Melbourne.