Wednesday, 8th April 2026
BY JOURNALIST
STEPHEN CRAFTI
The Murrah
Every four to six weeks, architect Nigel Dickson and his life and business partner Evelyn Lee head to the south coast of New South Wales. Their house at The Murrah, which they share with their sons Simon, Ben and Harry, offers solitude and, importantly, the experience of a true Australian bush coastal setting.
Steeped in distant and more recent history, the family’s bush property, on 20 hectares, is enlivened by wildlife, from kangaroos and wallabies to the extensive birdlife. Nigel originally experienced this region as a teenager, recalling the time he first saw the fairly rudimentary timber house architect Philip Cox built for himself in the mid-1970s on the beachfront – an L-shaped floorplan framing a courtyard with the native bush literally ‘piercing’ every room. The couple’s own house, designed by Dickson and completed in 2015, is not as precariously located as Cox’s beach house (and people would be unlikely to receive permission to build such a home in this area today). However, there’s a similar transparency to The Murrah house. Comprising three detached pavilions, there’s the kitchen, dining and living pavilion along with two sleeping pavilions, including the main bedroom suite. This arrangement not only allows the extended family and friends to stay over but also experience walking in the bush – both during the day and under the stars at night. Unlike some of the more rudimentary experimental houses built in the 1960s and ‘70s, The Murrah house was conceived with bushfire protection in mind – the area having a Bushfire Attack Level rating of 29.
While the outdoors is pivotal to their time at The Murrah – catching up with friends and colleagues at the beach, the family is drawn to the massive granite fireplace, particularly during the colder months of the year. The home’s polished concrete floors also act as a heat sink during the cooler weather where sun is directed through the raked skillion-shaped roofs. While this retreat was a haven during the pandemic, it was also a time when Nigel assisted with pro bono work during the devastating bushfires that destroyed many properties at the start of 2020 – helping those looking to rebuild. Both Nigel and Evelyn feel strongly tied to this community as a result of this event. But they also understand the importance of this area for many leading visionaries of the built and natural environment in the late 1960s and ‘70s. Professor and entrepreneur David Yencken commissioned architect Robin Boyd to design The Black Dolphin Hotel which regularly hosted architects and design buffs, as well as Nigel’s family, whose father Robert Dickson was a leading architect from Adelaide where Nigel was raised. Architect Daryl Jackson, also gravitated to the southern coast, creating his own rugged nuts and berry-style ‘70s beach houses on a discrete pocket of land. Another home, Myer House, designed by architect Roy Grounds at Wapengo for his prominent client Ken Meyr, was donated to the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1976. Other creatives such as artists and musicians have also discovered the magic of the south coast, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Although the couple enjoy living in Sydney, it’s when they arrive at The Murrah, the home of the Yuin people, that there’s a true sense of their Australian identity. Living in a relatively simple abode with the bush literally on their doorstep and hearing the sound of the wildlife creates both solitude and a place to re-energise before heading back to Sydney and running a successful practice.
Images: Murrah House, Murrah
Architecture l Design & Construct l Documentation l Planning – Expert Witness Services l Marketing Plans l Interior Design – Dickson Rothchild
Photo credits: Anthony Fretwell.
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