Man spent 18 years building his dream home and it became one of the most extraordinary properties in Australia
Published on Aug 13, 2026 at 12:08 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Aug 13, 2026 at 12:08 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
This man spent 18 years building his dream home, the luxury and legendary Pole House, and it’s one of the most incredible properties in all of Australia.
The unusual property quickly earned the nickname the Pole House.
It is the vision of Frank Dixon, who imagined a home suspended above Fairhaven Beach, with the land secured in 1965.
What followed was an 18-year journey to get this incredible house built, and it became one of Australia’s most famous property landmarks.
How was the dream home designed?
Architectural engineer Dixon suffered a surfing accident, and during a six-week recovery period, he dreamt up the idea of a suspended house.
By 1965, Dixon and his wife, Aileen, bought the land for the house, and work on the house began in 1972.
The Chemosphere, a modernist house in Los Angeles, California, was the source of inspiration for Dixon’s house.
By 1978, the vision that first came to Dixon in 1960 was complete.
However, there were some trials and tribulations for the Australian.
The most notable of these was in 1983, when the Ash Wednesday bushfires partially destroyed it.
Luckily, Dixon was able to rebuild the rear of the house, which had been heavily damaged.
Exposure to the elements caused the house to become fragile
With a house perched above the land and exposed to the elements, it was never going to be easy to look after the house.
This exposure made the house fragile, with its wooden construction ill-suited to its location by the sea.
Dixon sold the house in 2005 to new owners Kathi and Ray Adams, for a staggering $1.2 million.
In 2006, the Pole House became a holiday home for the first time.
However, by 2012 it needed a lot of repairs.
In 2012, Kathi Adams announced that the house would be demolished and replaced.
Yet Dixon, not happy about this, submitted an application to the Victorian Heritage Council to have the building included on its register.
He wanted his original home to be accepted as heritage and to prevent its demolition.
However, this was refused.
A new Pole House now resides in the area
With the petition rejected, the original house was demolished in January 2013.
Following this, a new build designed by Franco Fiorentini was built, incorporating a lot of changes over the original.
Glass and steel were used in its construction, as were floor-to-ceiling windows, to thoroughly refresh the design.
By 2014, the work was complete, and the house was unveiled that February.
It still sits atop a pole, which is supported by a 70 cm-thick slab.
A 23-metre floating walkway allows access to the Pole House.
The house is still open as a holiday property.
It certainly retains the spirit of Dixon’s original from the 1960s.
Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a heritage steam railway.
