Perched high on the windswept hills of a private bay on Bruny Island is a cottage and a shearers quarters — but they are no ordinary buildings.

British television presenter Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs singled out the property ahead of his visit to Tasmania next year.

"I'd love to come and stay," he told Lucy Breaden on ABC Radio Hobart.

Kevin McCloud is keen to stay on Bruny. ( Supplied )

Situated on a 440-hectare working sheep property on North Bruny, the Shearers Quarters and Captain Kelly's Cottage were designed by architect John Wardle.

Mr Wardle said he would be very happy to host McCloud.

"We're very keen for him to come and visit the Shearers Quarters," he said.

"I think he'd be a very fine guest."

'Complex and engaging'

The Shearers Quarters is a new building, designed to honour the original shearing shed which burned down in the 1980s.

Mr Wardle said a grainy photo from 1940 was used to speculate what the shed looked like and to inspire its design.

A photo from 1940 was used to speculate what the original shearing shed would have looked like. ( Supplied: Trevor Mein )

He said in the photo it was hard to tell whether it was a skillion shed, or a gable shed.

"We thought playfully we'd do both," he said.

"At first appearance it's a skillion, the most rudimentary of farm sheds, and then it transfers into a gable as it moves along its length and faces both the original cottage and the sea.

"It first appears as a very simple shed and then you realise, upon arrival, it's actually something far more complex and engaging."

The shed was several years in the making and picked up several architecture accolades between 2012 and 2015.

Inside the Shearers Quarters on Bruny Island. ( Supplied: Trevor Mein )

'Remarkable seafarers cottage'

The project most recently involved the restoration and contemporary extension of Captain James Kelly's Cottage, which Mr Wardle described as "a remarkable seafarers cottage on a cliff".

Captain Kelly was a mariner who circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land with four convicts in 1815, and was known as the father of whaling.

He built the cottage in the 1830s and Mr Wardle was determined to properly represent its history.

The project team undertook extensive research during its design and build, including the use of an historian.

Captain Kelly's Cottage on Bruny Island dates back to the 1830s. ( Supplied: Trevor Mein )

Mr Wardle said Bruny Island was a microcosm of Tasmania's rich history.

"It has a remarkable history, both appalling and fantastic, of human engagement with the landscape," he said.

"It's one of those places where its history really becomes highly pronounced; as a visitor you feel the strong presence of history there."

Mr Wardle purchased the farm in 2002, and put a third of the land into reserves.

He had 9,000 trees planted, and spent a decade working on the landscape before the architectural projects began.

"It's a testing ground, it's a place we derive great pleasure from, both as a family and as an architectural practice," he said.

Captain Kelly's Cottage received several awards between 2017 and 2018. ( Supplied: Trevor Mein )

Mr Wardle is a Melbourne-based architect who established his own firm in 1986.

He said at times the job of an architect could be high pressure.

"It's one of those rare professions where any period of time, you can look and see your worth, you don't want to do a bad building and have it sit there forever," he said.