Despite its name meaning ‘forest’ in Japanese, Mori House is certainly not engulfed in dense vegetation. Rather, it can be found in Mount Martha, on the Mornington Peninsula, just south of Melbourne, framed by gnarled coastal tea trees. It was this unique landscape that partially inspired the Portugal-based architect Manuel Aires Mateus, working in collaboration with developer Neometro’s design director Jeff Provan and local architects MA+Co, to create a new beach house. ‘These tea trees felt quite ancient to me, yet at the same time quite fragile,’ says Aires Mateus, who was also impressed with the property’s outlook over Port Phillip Bay.
