InfoSearched
Two years of building work vanished in a single afternoon of the worst bushfires in Australian history — and what got rebuilt on that same patch of Gippsland bush is now stopping scrollers cold.
Episode 29 of Hunting for George’s “Let Us In” series sends host Lucy Glade-Wright and videographer Jonno Rodd into the hills of Gippsland, Victoria, to tour Callignee II — an off-grid home built specifically to survive the fire that destroyed its predecessor. Original owner Chris Clarke spent two years constructing the first version of the house, only to lose it entirely just two weeks after completion when Black Saturday tore through the region in February 2009. What stands there now is a deliberate answer to that disaster: a five-acre bush retreat engineered around Corten steel, concrete, and salvaged materials, currently run as a sustainable eco-retreat by custodians Maggie and Chris Jones.
- The original Callignee house, completed after two years of construction, was destroyed just two weeks later in the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.
- The rebuilt Callignee II was designed by Sean Hamilton of Berwick Drafting and built with Swale Constructions, which later appeared in the premiere episode of Grand Designs Australia.
- The property runs 100% off-grid via rooftop solar with a lithium battery bank, a 60,000-liter rainwater harvesting system, and a subterranean Biolytic blackwater treatment system.
From Ashes to a Fire-Resilient Rebuild
Black Saturday killed 173 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes across Victoria on February 7, 2009, and Chris Clarke’s brand-new house in Callignee was among them, gone barely a fortnight after the final coat of paint dried. Rather than rebuild something conventional, the second version of the house was conceived from the ground up as a structure that could take another fire and still be standing afterward. Sean Hamilton of Berwick Drafting drew the plans, and Swale Constructions — a firm whose profile got a further boost when it was featured in the first-ever episode of Grand Designs Australia — carried out the build.
The rebuild deliberately incorporated remnants salvaged from the burned original: concrete slabs poured for the first house were reused, and reclaimed red jarrah timber was worked back into the new structure. Cladding the exterior in Corten weathering steel wasn’t a stylistic flourish so much as a fire-resistance decision, giving the home a rusted, armor-like skin that can withstand radiant heat far better than timber siding.
Living Entirely Off the Grid
Callignee II doesn’t touch mains power or town water. Rooftop solar panels feed a lithium battery bank that Maggie and Chris Jones upgraded after taking over as custodians, keeping the multi-level home running independently through Gippsland’s seasons. Water comes from a 60,000-liter rainwater harvesting system, and wastewater is processed on-site through a subterranean Biolytic blackwater treatment system rather than being pumped anywhere off the property.
The Joneses also restored and landscaped the five acres of bushland surrounding the house, turning what had been fire-scarred ground back into the grounds now framing the retreat. It’s the kind of self-sufficiency that shows up constantly in home tours built around off-grid living, but here it’s paired directly with the property’s fire history — every system exists partly because the alternative once burned to the ground.
Inside the Design
Lucy Glade-Wright’s walkthrough moves through a mezzanine loft that doubles as a guest bedroom and study nook, an open glass double shower, and an overhead suspension footbridge connecting different levels of the multi-story layout. The kitchen anchors the ground floor with a concrete-and-steel island bench that opens northward directly onto the pool deck.
That pool — a magnesium lap pool stretching 12 to 15 meters — is treated less like a backyard feature and more like part of the house itself. A large, heavy glass window set into the living room wall lets residents view the water from inside, turning the lap pool into what amounts to an indoor water feature even though it sits outdoors.
Built from the concrete slabs and jarrah timber salvaged after Black Saturday, Callignee II turned its own fire-scarred foundation into the frame of a house engineered specifically not to burn twice.
The result is a home that reads as much like a case study in bushfire-resilient design as it does a luxury retreat — the kind of build worth comparing against other Corten-and-concrete projects like the metal house builds gaining traction elsewhere. For now, Callignee II keeps operating as Maggie and Chris Jones’s working eco-retreat, five acres deep in the Gippsland bush, running entirely on the sun, the rain, and a rebuild that refused to make the same mistakes twice.
LA couple builds backyard cottage, then moves-in from main home
I tried breathwork everyday for 30 days
This Tiny Home Community Gives Homeless Veterans A Chance – Working To End Veteran Homelessness
Single Mother Builds Scandinavian Inspired Tiny House To Escape
The Tragedy of John Jones | Sealed Forever in a Cave