Commissioned by David Yencken and designed by the acclaimed Melbourne architect Robin Boyd, the Black Dolphin also made use of unadorned brick panels and glazed infill.

[6][1] In 1968, David Yencken commissioned Graeme Gunn, project architect on Robin Boyd's Black Dolphin Motel, to design a holiday house at Nelson Lagoon.

[14] The client David Yencken explained that the principal reason was to reduce costs and thereby enable the building of such a magnificent structure, so much larger and more expansive than the brief had called for, without comprising the design.

[15][1] Tonkin describes the design as 'like an occupiable construction toy - a complete vertical and horizontal grid of nine-foot modules defined by the framework of massive, round tree trunks.

The early efforts of conservation groups were rewarded on 13 April 1973 when an area of 628 hectares located between Bunga Head and Picnic Point was gazetted as Mimosa Rocks National Park.

[6][1] Peter Tonkin wrote in 2010: 'The house at Baronda Head is a kind of icon of the late 60s, with its progressive structuralist form, flowing spaces and machine-like diagram, as well as its pioneering environmental self-sufficiency.

As Nelsons Beach and Lagoon are a popular recreational space for locals and tourists, its visual presence signifies the efforts made by the Yencken family towards the development of the park.

Proceeding to the interior you certainly feel that Graeme Gunn, the architect, must have used the analogy of climbing a tree with the series of half floor stairs spirally linking the five levels.

At first it appears quite dark and your eyes need to adjust between the intriguingly designed internal spaces and the openings with tantalising views of the surrounding forest and the occasional glimpses of sea and coastline.

Recommendations of that committee, delivered to Cabinet in 1978 and adopted by the Wran Government, saw Nelsons Lake and several other coastal catchments transfer from State Forest into National park.

Finally it is a testament to the pioneering spirit and perseverance of David Yencken, Robin Boyd, and Graeme Gunn who have spent so much of their professional lives pursuing their belief in the value that Architecture can bring to the family home .

The strikingly robust design using large vertical hardwood posts and beams combined with a palette of muted colours has resulted in a building that sits both confidently and harmoniously in its forested landscape setting.

'[30][1] Alec Tzannes (Professor and Dean, Faculty of the Built Environment, UNSW): 'Baronda itself is an important work of architecture, representing social values and design ideas particular to time and place with an exceptional level of clarity.

'[31][1] Peter Watts AM (former CEO of the Historic Houses Trust of NSW): 'I would like to emphasise the role this property played in the early days of the formation of the professional conservation movement in Australia.

Many people who went on to become the leaders of the natural and cultural heritage movements in Australia developed and honed their ideas and principles at Baronda, with its wonderful house and surrounded by an exceptionally fine landscape - the two welded together in total harmony.

'[32][1] Rodney T. Wulff and Steve Calhoun (founding directors Tract Consultants, Professorial Fellows at the University of Melbourne): 'On separate occasions we have had the good fortune and pleasure of staying in this wonderful dwelling and experiencing the landscape in which it is so sensitively sited .

'[33][1] As the commissioning client and long-term lessee, Professor David Yencken AO wrote a letter of support for the SHR listing of Baronda stating: 'When the lease is surrendered I am very pleased to know that the house will be in the care of the NSW National Park and Wildlife Service.

Evidence remains of pastoral, timber harvesting, gold mining and recreational ventures, with places such as the former "Riverview" and "Penders" properties containing features of Indigenous and non-Indigenous significance.

Robin Boyd's Black Dolphin Motel in Merimbula, for which Graeme Gunn was project architect in the late 1950s, provided a crucial precedent for this flowering of Modern Movement design in this region.

The house is given its richness of form externally by cantilevered extensions and varied rooflines, and internally by the half level 1.37 metre (4'6") changes and by its large spaces and high ceilings.

[6][1] The house was first designed as having no bearers or floor joists, no partition walls, no windows or glass (just canvas blinds), no doors except to bathrooms, no studs as we know them and no painting.

[6][1] New timber steps to access Nelson Lagoon were added c. 2012[6][1] Baronda is of state significance for its aesthetic qualities as an innovative, Modern Movement residential design harmoniously positioned in a remote coastal location of great scenic beauty.

[1] Baronda is of state significance for its associations with its original client, Professor David Yencken, an outstanding advocate for protection of both natural and cultural environments in Australia.

[1] Baronda is also of state significance as an important representative example of the new postwar building type, the holiday house, using an experimental approach of living in ecological harmony with the Australian climate and landscape.

Baronda is representative of several stages of European occupation of coastal NSW, from pastoral settlement and alluvial gold mining to the development of holiday retreats.

Baronda residence, dating from 1969, is of local historical significance as an early and intact example of a high quality, architect-designed private holiday house on the NSW far south coast.

Baronda is of state significance for its aesthetic qualities as an innovative, Modern Movement house in a superb, remote coastal location of great scenic beauty.

It is remarkable in its sculptural manipulation of the living spaces in the form of a geometric spiral with rectangular projections, while maximising views to surrounding bush, lagoon and ocean.

Baronda residence at Nelson Lagoon is of state significance as a rare building of its type in NSW and an early, innovative design in high quality, experimental pole construction.

Baronda is also of state representative significance for demonstrating several stages of European occupation of coastal NSW, from pastoral settlement and alluvial gold mining to the development of holiday retreats.