21 February 2020

High-tech home offers a country lifestyle under a starry, starry sky

| Sharon Kelley
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1/127 Hardy Road, Urila

This high tech homestead at Urila is powered by solar panels and offers spectacular views of the surrounding valley. Photos: Supplied.

Google Nest controls this home. Everything from blinds to lighting, heating and cooling, sprinklers and pumps are all controlled by Google Nest and Google Mini, either by voice control or remotely by an app, and there is nothing, says homeowner Cash, that can’t be activated for his arrival at home.

“At first, we were in an internet black spot,” he says. “There was no reception at all, but I’m a technician for a major telecommunications company so I essentially installed my own mobile reception tower, and now we have internet that’s faster than the NBN,” he says with pride.

The modern kitchen

The modern country kitchen features polished concrete floors and indoor-outdoor dining.

The high-tech extends to the roof. Electricity bills are in the negative as the solar panels provide more power than the household can use. Each panel is independently controlled, so if one is damaged, the rest still operate effectively, feeding power into the house and back to the grid.

After crafting the house to perfectly suit his needs, this is the definition of a reluctant sale.

“I’ve been posted to Melbourne so the house is up for sale, but I’m more than happy to do a full handover to the new owners,” he says, referring to the tech-driven elements of the house and grounds.

The Milky Way

No light pollution from city lighting shows the Milky Way clearly in the night sky.

This three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 1/127 Hardy Road, Urila, is less than an hour from Canberra and 20 minutes from the nearest supermarket, but Cash says the drive is worth it.

This property sits on 6 hectare (14.8 acre) in a small valley, enabling stargazing without light pollution from nearby Tuggeranong.

The property is surrounded by farmland and the sprinkler system is fed by the largest dam for miles, connected to a holding tank with an underground pipe system. Of course, the sprinklers are also controlled by Google.

The rainwater tanks hold more than enough for household use, even in a drought. Cash says they’ve never had to truck water in to fill the tanks as he installed a tank large enough to ensure he never runs out of freshwater.

Views from every room

Every room has a different view of the countryside through floor to ceiling windows.

Inside the home, Cash also loves that every window opens onto a different vista and every room has a different view of the surrounding hills.

The best part about the home, says McGrath Agent Benjamin James, is the quiet, country lifestyle and the wildlife. Every morning, kangaroos and king parrots land on the green front lawn to help themselves to some breakfast and squabble over the greenest grass for miles.

A full-size freestanding bath adds to the luxury family bathroom.

A full-size freestanding bath adds to the luxury family bathroom.

Benjamin says the property is one in a million. Quiet enough to enjoy the peace of a country lifestyle, but a home that is more technologically connected than most suburban houses. Polished concrete floors complement the exterior of corrugated iron, while the technology that controls the entire home is subtly hidden from view.

This peaceful rural retreat at 1/127 Hardy Road, Urila is open for inspection on Thursday, 27 February from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. To learn more, view this property on Zango, or to book an inspection, contact listing agent Benjamin James at McGrath Woden on 02 6124 2516.

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