Brisbane home with ‘upside down’ backyard crowned Australia’s House of the Year

Annie O’Rourke and Jim Jackson love their Clayfield home. Photo: Lyndon Mechielsen. A Brisbane family home that turns the traditional backyard on its head has been crowned the best house in Australia. Half Light House, an inventive extension to a timber cottage in Clayfield, has taken out Australian House of the Year at the 2026 Houses Awards, also winning the category for House Alteration and Addition Over 200 Square Metres. Annie O’Rourke and Jim Jackson at the winning Australian House of the Year in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen. RELATED: Brisbane builders win House of the Year for Greek-inspired masterpiece Designed by Brisbane architect John Ellway, Annie O’Rourke and Jim Jackson’s home is built around a central shaded swimming pool that can be seen from its living spaces, with the pool and deck effectively pulled inside the footprint of the house. “People come in and they sort of get to a certain point and they’re looking out the back at the garden and the view and then they say; ‘Oh, there’s a pool down there!’” Ms O’Rourke said. “I think we were in a stage where every time we wanted to go into a pool with the kids we had the sunscreen, the rashies, it was a huge proc...