Here’s a Rare Chance to Own a Home by Pritzker Prize–Winner Glenn Murcutt

by Ela Zawadzki

The 840-square-foot pod currently sits on a vineyard in New South Wales, Australia, but the land isn’t part of the deal—the next owner will have to relocate it.

Designed by Australian architect Glenn Murcutt and built in 2022, the 78-square-meter pod is one of only two examples of the design ever built. It currently sits on <a href="https://www.rosby.com.au/">Rosby Vineyard</a> outside Mudgee, New South Wales.

Location: Strikes Lane, Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia

Price: Price Upon Request

Year Built: 2022

Architect: Glenn Murcutt

Builder: Penney Constructions

Footprint: 840 square feet (2 beds, 1 bath)

From the Agent: "A small piece of Australian architectural history faces an uncertain future—and, for one buyer, it’s an extraordinary opportunity.

Glenn Murcutt’s buildings are known for their lightness, restraint, and sensitivity to climate and place. Corrugated metal, timber, glass, shade, and ventilation are transformed through careful proportion and detail into buildings that sit gently upon the landscape. It is an approach closely associated with the expression ‘Touch the earth lightly.’

This diminutive structure distills that philosophy into an unusually compact form. Only two examples of this Glenn Murcutt design were ever built.

But the building cannot remain indefinitely where it stands. It can disappear. Or it can move. Its custodians are searching for someone who understands what it is and who can give it another life. An effort is underway to save it, relocate it, and find a setting for it.

Its modest scale opens possibilities that would be impossible with one of Murcutt’s larger houses. It could sit on a rural property, beside a vineyard, overlooking bushland, or within a sculpture garden, and could potentially be used as a private retreat, guest pavilion, or creative studio. There is something particularly appropriate about the idea of a Murcutt building being carefully lifted from one landscape and allowed to settle lightly upon another.

Murcutt is Australia’s only recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. His buildings are studied by architects around the world, yet opportunities to acquire them are exceptionally uncommon. An opportunity involving a small, potentially relocatable Murcutt structure—one of only two built—is more unusual still.

The hope is to find an individual, architect, collector, developer, or organization who recognizes its significance and is prepared to become its next custodian. The building already has a history. Now it needs someone to write its next chapter."

The small structure brings Murcutt’s approach to climate and landscape down to an unusually intimate scale, responding to sun and wind through a deliberately economical design. — The small structure brings Murcutt’s approach down to an unusually intimate scale, and its deliberately economical design responds to sunlight, breezes, and the surrounding landscape.
Photo by Renee Skelton

A freestanding red fireplace separates the dining area from the living room.
Photo by Renee Skelton

Horizontal louvers wrap portions of the exterior. Shade and ventilation also play a role in the design, which uses corrugated metal, timber, and glass throughout. — Horizontal louvers wrap portions of the home’s exterior. The residence is crafted primarily from corrugated metal, timber, and glass.
Photo by Renee Skelton

Murcutt’s architecture is often associated with the phrase "touch the earth lightly." Here, the idea is distilled into a particularly compact structure.
Photo by Renee Skelton

The pod is raised above the ground on a slender structural frame, with a broad corrugated roof extending beyond the exterior walls.
Photo by Renee Skelton

<a href="https://www.murcuttfoundation.org/">Murcutt received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2002</a>, becoming the first Australian to receive architecture’s highest honor. His work is studied by architects around the world. — Murcutt received the Pritzker Prize in 2002, becoming the first Australian to receive architecture’s highest honor. His work is studied by architects around the world.
Photo by Renee Skelton

Now the building has to move again. It can no longer remain indefinitely at Rosby, so its custodians are looking for someone willing to relocate it to a new site. — The structure can no longer remain at Rosby Vineyard, so its custodians are looking for someone willing to relocate it to a new site.
Photo by Renee Skelton

The land isn’t part of the sale. Instead, a buyer is taking on the Murcutt-designed structure itself—and finding somewhere new to put it.
Photo by Renee Skelton

Its small footprint opens up a range of possibilities for what comes next. The agent imagines it on another rural property, vineyard, or sculpture garden, where it could become a private retreat, guest pavilion, or creative studio. — The structure could be moved to a rural property, vineyard, or sculpture garden, where it could become a private retreat, guest pavilion, or creative studio.
Photo by Renee Skelton

Glenn Murcutt’s structure currently located on Rosby Vineyard in Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia, is offered for sale with price upon request by John Mann at johnmannprivate@gmail.com.