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TarraWarra Estate, Yarra Valley, Victoria
TarraWarra is a 365-hectare former dairy farm in the Yarra Valley, near Melbourne. The terrain includes rolling hills and 5 kilometres of river frontage. The estate has three functions: a private family retreat, a winery and art gallery open to the public, and a working farm. The climate and landscape are tough. The family retreat on Home Hill has 360-degree views. A ha-ha wall prevents cattle from straying in. The family has located the house in a European setting and created a micro-climate amid the dry landscape. Native trees surrounding the exotic garden buffer the winds and offer protection against scorching summer conditions. The entire property is designed, including the farm and the vineyard. The masterplan has been progressively implemented and constantly fine-tuned. Now maturing, it reflects a bucolic vision with a strong sense of the native bush. Initially there were few trees on the site; since the early 1980s more than 40,000 indigenous trees have been planted from seed collected on the property in order to maintain the pure regime of the area, rather than introduce eucalypts from elsewhere. The vast scale of the planting demanded persistence. Many seedlings died, and those that survived took time to take and mature.
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The benefits the trees provide are varied: improved water run-off, stabilised creek banks, arrested erosion and silt loss,wind breaks, wildlife habitats, and increased ecological, economic viability for the farming and vineyard operations, as well as their aesthetic value.
Stone from an old quarry on the site was used for low walls and gateways. The main entry drive is lined with double rows of poplars, giving formal contrast and impressive autumn colour. The drive inscribes the land with a processional route to the winery and house. Much of TarraWarra is experienced primarily from a moving car as a serial experience with a multitude of views. Sculptures are situated in the topography in outdoor 'rooms' accessed from the road. The property can be considered as a 'house', with the road a corridor giving onto various rooms, each containing furniture/ sculpture. On approaching the house, a meadmore is encountered, reflected in the lake, and views of the house on the hill. Duration is implicit in landscape design: it takes decades and sometimes generations to mature, and success depends on maintenance and fine-tuning. TarraWarra represents a rare opportunity to create, maintain and refine the landscape. A new public gallery was opened in 2003 to house the owners' extensive collection of contemporary Australian art. |
