Starhaven Retreat [ a grand design ]

Before Starhaven Retreat became an award winning bed & breakfast on the Bellarine Peninsula, Ian McDonald and Robert Wilhelm built this home as a weekend getaway from the hustle and bustle of Melbourne. The construction of the retreat was followed and filmed over 15 months for the inaugural season of Grand Designs Australia.

This is how Grand Designs Australia describes the episode:

"Their build is a Grand Design in its most literal sense. A glass box with a roof like floating wings overlooking Port Phillip Bay on the Bellarine Peninsula – seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, cinema, games room, glass lift, glass panelled pool area, rooftop garden – all the bells and whistles, all the boy’s toys. With a construction budget of $1.8 million, the question is will they burst the budget banks and by how much?"

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Below are the original photos of the first photo shoot after the first airing of Grand Designs Australia and the actual episode that aired.

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For upcoming episodes of Grand Designs Australia visit the Lifestyle Channel.