Hawthorne HomesCall(03) 5550 2741
A dark timber-clad house at dusk, its windows lit warm against a stand of trees

Custom homes for Melbourne’s inner east

We build a handful of architect-designed houses and major renovations each year, from Hawthorn to the Mornington Peninsula, with one site team from the first footing to handover.

Tell us about your siteOr call (03) 5550 2741

Illustrative photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

A house should feel settled the day you move in, and better twenty years on. That happens when the people who start a build are the people who finish it.

Board-formed concrete wall with a black steel handrail

Illustrative photo by Brandon Zacharias on Unsplash

Hawthorne Homes is a small building company. We take on a few projects at a time, so a director is on site every week and the same site manager, carpenters and trades carry each house through.

Most of our work starts with an architect’s drawings. If you don’t have an architect yet, we’ll introduce you to people we work well with. Either way we price the design as it develops, so the decisions you make are made with real numbers.

The houses we build

Three kinds of project make up most of our work.

  1. A two-storey house in red brick with deep-set windows, a terrace and a planted garden
    Exposed timber roof beams meeting in a geometric pattern

    1 of 3

    New homes

    Houses designed from scratch for the block, the light and the way you live. We price the design as your architect develops it, so the drawings you approve are drawings you can build.

    Usually on site
    12 to 18 months
    Starts with
    A site visit and feasibility review
    Working with
    Your architect, or one we introduce

    Illustrative photos by Bohdan Stocek and Raymond Goo on Unsplash

  2. A glazed link joining an older brick house to a black weatherboard outbuilding
    A narrow timber-lined hallway opening onto a sunlit room and garden beyond

    2 of 3

    Additions and renovations

    Extensions and whole-house renovations for period homes, where new work has to sit comfortably beside old brick and timber. We stage the work so families can often stay in part of the house.

    Usually on site
    6 to 12 months
    Starts with
    A measured survey of the existing house
    Working with
    Architects, heritage advisers and engineers

    Illustrative photos by Toa Heftiba and Gláuber Sampaio on Unsplash

  3. A timber-clad house with tall windows, seen through pine trees from a grassy slope
    A long gallery lined in timber and board-marked concrete, light falling across the floor

    3 of 3

    Homes in the landscape

    Houses on sloping, treed or coastal blocks around the Mornington Peninsula, where access, soil, bushfire rating and weather shape the build as much as the design does.

    Usually on site
    12 to 20 months
    Starts with
    Soil and bushfire assessments
    Working with
    Architects, landscape architects and engineers

    Illustrative photos by Jan Ledermann and Diego Marín on Unsplash

A timber-lined kitchen and dining room with wide windows onto hills

Fewer houses, each one with our full attention.

Illustrative photo by Fabian Kühne on Unsplash

How a build comes together

Four stages, with a fixed price agreed before anything is built.

  1. Site and feasibility

    We walk the block with you, check planning controls, access and services, and give you an honest early view of what your budget can build.

  2. Design and pricing

    As your architect develops the drawings we price them at each stage, so the tender holds no surprises and changes are weighed while they are still cheap.

  3. Contract and permits

    You sign a fixed-price contract under Victoria’s Domestic Building Contracts Act. We arrange the building permit, engineering and insurances.

  4. Build and handover

    A weekly site meeting and written update, one person to call, and a handover walk-through where every system in the house is explained.

Materials that age well

We favour honest materials that weather gracefully and are simple to look after, and we spend our care on the details where they meet.

  • Close view of brickwork meeting a dark steel member at an angle

    Brick

    New and recycled clay brick, laid with care at corners, sills and openings, where workmanship shows most.

    Illustrative photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

  • Weathered vertical timber cladding curving around a building, with a slot window

    Timber

    Cladding, battens and linings in durable species, detailed to shed water and weather evenly to silver.

    Illustrative photo by paws and prints on Unsplash

  • Steel-framed glazing set into rough-sawn timber cladding above long grass

    Steel and glass

    Slim steel-framed glazing, sized and shaded for Melbourne’s sun so rooms stay bright without overheating.

    Illustrative photo by Moritz Kindler on Unsplash

Tell us about your site

Send a few details and we’ll call you to talk through your block, any drawings you have and a realistic budget. There’s no charge for a first site visit.

Office hours
Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 5pm

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