Ron is well qualified to welcome visitors
from overseas to his cottages as he speaks
English, German, Spanish, Indonesian and Thai,
with a smattering of French, Japaneese and
Portuguese. Talking with Ron is an education.
The man has travelled extensively and read
deeply, yet somehow he has managed to create
some magnificent spaces by the grace of his
hands, his appetite for activity and the spiritual
philosophies that inspire him.
The story starts in 1959, when Ron’s
parents migrated to Anglesea from Germany.
He calls the ocean his first and prime love,
growing up near it, he has been a surfer since
he was 13. Ron’s restless energy and
love of adventure drew him westwards in search
of bigger waves, because he wanted to find
more challenges in the water. Those were the
days when the Great Ocean Road stopped at
Apollo Bay. Anything west of that meant a
long and slow drive through the hinterland,
but that drive brought Ron up close and personal
with mountain ash, myrtle beech and blackwood.
Distressed at the sight of logging, Ron decided
to minimize the damage the best he could by
making an impact of his own, first by buying
up some land and then by planting trees. Eventually
Ron found the block at Yuulong with ocean
views, which meant a forest home that let
him keep a check on the surf. There he saw
the opportunity to build something himself,
to do it well and make a statement of his
own about how we can learn to live in the
natural world.
Seatree Cottages and the main house are tributes
to the bush. Ron wanted people to enjoy what
he loves about the Otways, so he created buildings
that added to that sense of place, and not
just be something that he “knocked up”.
The cottages follow the spirit of the main
house, which is made from locally sourced
materials, especially mountain ash and blackwood,
that he used to make a parquetry mandala on
the living room floor. Sitting above all of
that is a large glass pyramid modelled on
the Great Pyramid of Giza and aligned on the
cardinal points. Cottage guests have the added
attraction of seeing Ron’s pyramid glowing
at night from solar-powered lighting.
Naturally, the architect-enhanced cottage
designs are environmentally sensitive. The
materials are all natural, right down to the
paint and the insulation. Water reticulates
to the hundreds of trees Ron planted; compost
goes into the organic garden from which Ron
supplies guests with it’s seasonal produce;
His cottages design was sensitive to the needs
of the disabled and so Alcoa awarded him for
his services. There are bees on the property
so that guests can enjoy local honey, while
sheep , horses & Alpacas graze on the
property. Ron wants his guests to be fully
immersed in the spirit and sensations of land
and sea and sky.
A vegetarian for some 25 years, Ron meditates
and practices yoga daily. As he finds himself
surfing less, Ron has taken up karate to sharpen
his mind and reflexes. He is a student of
philosophy and an observer of Hindu and Buddhist
beliefs. He has faith in the generating powers
of happiness. Seatree Cottages stand as living
testimony to the ideals and beliefs that Ron
holds sacred. Let the cottages he built ,
tell his story.
Ron can be contacted
at Seatree Cottages on T: 03 5237 5276 M:
0429 631 464
and please don't forget to mention Great
Ocean Road Trip when you do.
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