Expert tips for designing and building a Modern Coastal house

There’s something inherently soothing about a beachside landscape, where the tones of sun, sea and sky create a relaxing vision that soothes the body and soul. The homes that populate these areas are intrinsically linked to these feelings. In fact, we’re seeing the little coastal shacks of the past evolve into a new style: Modern Coastal.

Modern Coastal puts a contemporary spin on the traditional beach house. The look is modernised with an injection of sleek minimalism, while remaining harmonious with the climate and connecting to its rich architectural history. This design is perfect for homeowners looking for a beach-inspired contemporary home.

Let’s explore this new evolution of a beloved style and how to bring it to life.

What is Modern Coastal style?

With relaxed beachside living at its core, Modern Coastal homes are defined by spaces that lend themselves to a laid-back, luxurious lifestyle where the lines between indoor and outdoor are blurred. That means open-plan living spaces that extend seamlessly into alfresco entertaining, where occupants feel free to move around.

Crisp, white weatherboards combine with textured cladding to marry minimalist and coastal design, amplifying a nostalgic ambience for carefree summer days. Interiors are light-filled and breezy, featuring lightweight furniture, natural textures and soft shades of green and blue.

Not all of these homes are identical – some might lean into a Box Modern Coastal expression, with a simple, boxy design and flat roof. Others might appear more like a Modern Queenslander, with all the benefits of open living and airflow. But all embody some key elements.

Design details of Modern Coastal houses explained

Open, airy and light filled, well-designed Modern Coastal homes include:

Flexible roof: An angular skillion roof, bold gable or flat roof style adds clean lines to a Modern Coastal facade and evokes a contemporary coastal architectural style. Flower Haus by Happy Haus is a strong example of a flat roof style, offset by a simple but striking material mix on the facade: Linea™ Weatherboard and Axon™ Cladding.

Weatherboard exterior: The facade typically features crisp white weatherboards, adding coastal charm without the hassles of traditional timber. This Modern Coastal render beautifully highlights the design possibilities of classic style weatherboards, bringing a heritage vibe to a decidedly modern property thanks to the strong shadow lines of Linea™ Weatherboard.

Weatherboard accessories: Builders and designers are utilising trim and corner soakers creatively in Modern Coastal homes to highlight its beauty and to add a more striking, contemporary look. This Spring Beach, Tasmania home from Preston Lane architects, highlights Linea™ Aluminium Corner Soakers in lieu of Hardie™ Axent™ Trim on the corners. Corner soakers and slimline box corner accessories reduce construction time doing mitred corners, building weatherboards stops, and avoids external scribers, keeping lines and profiles clean and refined.

Light colour palette: Whites, light greys, beach beiges and muted pastel tones evoke a fresh and airy coastal palette and create a sense of spaciousness. This Newport home designed by Kate Lawrence is a perfect example.

Indoor-outdoor connection: Interior and exterior spaces are seamlessly connected through sliding glass doors, louvres and screens, creating an abundance of indoor-outdoor living areas.

We can see this in practice in the Berrara Project from Salt Building Design, where interior and exterior spaces are seamlessly connected through sliding glass doors, oversized windows and Hardie™ Groove Lining used internally, creating an abundance of indoor-outdoor flow by mimicking the verticals lines of the Axon™ Cladding used on the exterior.

Interiors: Modern Coastal home decor stars pale timbers and hero white plaster to create a sense of light and spaciousness inside with complementary natural textures and neutral coastal tones of soft greens and blues adding to the fresh, contemporary feel.

Expert tip: Make installation easy

Neil Hipwell of Futureflip’s own family home in Byron Bay is a Modern Coastal marvel. “We used Linea™ Weatherboard and Linea™ Aluminium Corner Soakers as the hero, and paired them with some concrete elements for a modern take on the nostalgic beach house,” explains Neil, an experienced builder.

The 16mm thickness of Linea™ Weatherboard allows the weatherboards to be gun-nailed and enables handy tongue and groove short ends for clean butt joins even off-stud. Linea™ Weatherboard can be installed where the fixings are concealed by the board above, helping to reduce patching and sanding. The boards are back-bevelled to sit flush with frames.

Neil’s tip for minimising product wastage? A pre-set out in the design room at Futureflip. It allows the team to set out all the door, window and ceiling heights. “When it comes to installing the cladding, it's a really seamless process. There are no ugly cut boards or wasted materials,” says Neil.

Is Hamptons style actually Modern Coastal?

The Australian Hamptons architectural style blends the elegant, relaxed sophistication of the American Hamptons with the laid-back, beachy lifestyle of Australia. Like Modern Coastal home decor, the design features open, light-filled spaces with a neutral colour palette dominated by whites, soft greys, and muted blues to evoke a coastal feel, but it has a more traditional, heritage vibe.

While there are a lot of similarities, Modern Coastal is really an evolution of this existing style and growing in popularity at a much faster rate. In fact, the Modern Coastal home has become one of the most popular housing styles in Australia and New Zealand in the last decade.

How to bring the look to your own exterior design

Modern Coastal exteriors feel decidedly contemporary. These products can bring your Modern Coastal exterior dream home to life.

Linea™ Weatherboard: The strong shadow lines of Linea™ Weatherboard nods to a traditional beach house or Queenslander style with a modern twist. Using with Linea™ Aluminium Corner Soakers differentiates from a more traditional Hamptons look which has trim covering the corners.

Why? This product references heritage styling but is delivered in a sleek, modern and low-maintenance way to suit the needs and expectations of a 21st-century homeowner.

Hardie™ Brushed Concrete Cladding: The flowing lines are ideal for creating Modern Coastal facades with a finish that’s visually sophisticated and dynamic.

Why? Bringing the look of a rendered wall without the hassle and weight of brickwork, Hardie™ Brushed Concrete Cladding offers texture and visual interest on a mixed cladding facade – a great option when paired with Linea™ Weatherboard.

Axon™ Cladding: The shallow, narrow grooves and slanted edges of Axon™ Cladding offer the fine detail of a vertical joint panelling with the look of timber and the benefits of Hardie™ fibre cement products.

Why? Vertical cladding is trending now, and a fantastic way to modernise the traditional beach house. Featuring a stepped shiplap joint on the long edges for easy installation, Axon™ Cladding can be gun nailed and cut cleanly with a circular saw using a dust-reducing fibre cement blade.

Hardie™ Groove Lining: An ideal option for interiors, soffits and ceilings, Hardie™ Groove Lining is the modern way to embrace VJ-style panelling, a simple and elegant way to bring coastal styling to any interior.

Why? The elegant, uniform panels provide a craftsmanship look that’s beautifully uniform, without the warps, splits and knots that can sometimes be associated with some timber alternatives.

Hardie™ Deck: A dream product for outdoor rooms, bushfire zones and low-set decks.

Why? No Modern Coastal home is complete without an alfresco zone for entertaining. Hardie™ Deck is made from Hardie™ fibre cement products so will resist warping and will not splinter like some timber can.