Peter Bullen’s hidden Canberra home with rooftop garden | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT
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What happened next for the Grand Designs home with a garden on its roof
ByGeorgina Sebar
UpdatedJuly 25 2026 – 8:42am, first published5:30am
ByGeorgina Sebar
UpdatedJuly 25 2026 – 8:42am, first published5:30am
From the street, Peter Bullen’s house looks like any of its neighbours
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A bold yellow garage door is all that distinguishes the one-level home from the others on the sleepy Rivett cul-de-sac, but the inconspicuous street front hides a building unlike any other in Canberra
Mr Bullen designed the house himself in bits and pieces over many years, and it was unusual enough to have landed him on the Australian version of Grand Designs in 2019
Peter Bullen in his rooftop garden. Picture by Keegan Carroll
Determined to make the most of his small plot of land, he designed the house to be built into the property’s slope. The result is a rooftop that blends into the backyard so that it feels almost like an empty lot when out in the garden. “I had thought about what sort of house I wanted for years and years, and being able to finally do it, it’s been great,” Mr Bullen said
Top of the list for the retired engineer was a workshop – larger than the rest of the rooms combined – where he could use his power tools in the middle of the night, although he admitted he most often used it to fix the various broken appliances brought to him by his family
Mr Bullen designed a soundproof workshop that is larger than the rest of the house combined. Picture by Keegan Carroll
It is, however, the garden that makes Mr Bullen’s home so unique. When he appeared on the show the house was complete, but the garden was more dirt than luscious plants and he suggested a return visit was needed years down the track
It has thrived since theGrand Designs episode, with manicured shrubs, winding paths and a vegetable garden where Mr Bullen is currently growing 150 garlic plants (last year was tomatoes)
A lover of native plants, he said a trip to the Botanic Gardens is all he needs whenever he is lacking in inspiration
Mr Bullen said there was little he would change
“I’m really surprised because it was a big gamble. You spend all this money to build something quite different, and we never had a leak or anything like that,” he said, although he admitted to wishing he had insulated the pipes so the hot water didn’t take quite as long to come through
There were, however, no issues with the ambient temperature. In the middle of winter, he said he turns the heater on for one hour each day, which is enough to keep the house in the high teens overnight
During the 2019-20summer fires, he was forced to buy a heat pump because the smoke prevented him from opening the doors and windows, but in other years the cave-like structure of the building had kept it cool
“Everyone should build houses that are a bit gentler on the environment, I reckon,” he said
The main living space includes the kitchen, living and dining spaces, and a bedroom. Picture by Keegan Carroll
Mr Bullen designed the house to withstand another fire season, and said the locals have planned to use it as a communal bunker if necessary
“All my neighbours said, ‘can we come here when we get the fires again?'” he said
“So I gave them a list of what sort of red wine I wanted.”
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