The Hill House
The Hill House is a fictional one-bedroom weatherboard cottage in Millthorpe, a village twenty minutes from Orange. Its guests are couples travelling from Sydney or Canberra for a weekend of restaurants, cellar doors and local produce, and they decide where to stay based on exactly what they can see and how easily they can book.
Industry
Boutique accommodation
Location
Millthorpe NSW
Status
Concept project
Services
Website design · booking UX · content
The Hill House is a one-bedroom cottage in Millthorpe, with the village's restaurants on foot and Orange's cellar doors an easy drive away.
Fireplace · Full kitchen · Heating + cooling · Wi-Fi · Private outdoor space · Off-street parking
A few places we regularly recommend to guests.
Questions? Call or email the host directly. Phone Email
The business and its customers
Within about fifteen seconds a visitor should know what the property looks like, that it sleeps two, roughly what it costs, whether their dates are available and how to reach the host. The one action everywhere is Check Availability, and calling or emailing the host is always a single tap, never a form.
What needed solving
A small property like this competes with listing platforms that show everything and charge for the privilege. Its own website has to earn the direct booking: show the whole property honestly, answer every practical question, and make contacting the host feel personal rather than transactional.
The website
“Beautifully presented, quiet and close to everything we wanted to do in Orange.”
Guest review · placeholderThe approach
Photography does the persuading. The first thing a guest sees is the cottage itself, with the essentials, sleeps two, the price, availability, laid over it. Living, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen all appear within the first two screens, so nothing feels hidden and there are no surprises at check-in.
The site behaves like a good host: it anticipates questions, answers them plainly and then gets out of the way. The local guide reads like a note left on the kitchen bench, places the host actually recommends, and the booking details sit beside the host's own phone and email, because at a property this size the person is the brand.
The experience
Full-photo opening
The first thing a guest sees is the cottage itself, with the name, the facts, the price and Check Availability laid over it. The decision starts immediately.
The four-view reveal
Living, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen appear together straight after the hero. A guest understands the whole property in two screens, which is what earns a direct booking.
The room index
A quiet numbered index, Living through Outside, keeps guests oriented as they move through the property, like being shown around in order.
The local guide
While You're Here reads like a note from the host: where to eat, where to drink, where to get coffee. It sells the weekend, not just the bed.
The booking strip
Dates and guests in one simple strip, with the host's phone and email directly beneath. Booking direct should feel easier than the platforms, not harder.
Across screens
The Hill House is a one-bedroom cottage in Millthorpe, with the village's restaurants on foot and Orange's cellar doors an easy drive away.
Fireplace · Full kitchen · Heating + cooling · Wi-Fi · Private outdoor space · Off-street parking
A few places we regularly recommend to guests.
Questions? Call or email the host directly. Phone Email
“Beautifully presented, quiet and close to everything we wanted to do in Orange.”
Guest review · placeholderThis is an independent concept project created by Summer St. Studio to demonstrate our approach to website strategy and design. The business, content and project details shown are fictional.