Photo: Sharyn Cairns
There’s something about the Byron Bay hinterland in northern NSW, Australia, that transports me back to the rolling green fields of England, the tree-tunnelled winding country lanes and the greenness of it all. Except that is, for the fact that the Byron hinterland tumbles down to the most beautiful ocean beaches, is connected strongly with the water and is a little bit warmer than Blighty!
On the last day of a week-long stay in Byron, I spotted a little Queenslander open for inspection and it was just too sweet not to look at. As I walked up the front steps, I knew this was it – the energy of the house had cast its spell on me. Everything about Gypsy Creek fell into place with ease. It hadn’t been overly modernised, it had been cared for sensitively and with love and it still retained so much original character – it just needed a little update.
Lale rustic milking stools are from Inartisan and the Love tea towel (on the wall) is by Rachel Castle. The industrial-style yellow pendant adds a pop of sunshine.
The main thing we did structurally was pull out the kitchen, which included knocking out three pillared wall sections to open up the space. It meant adding a beam to span the roof, which automatically gave rise to the obligatory rope swing. The new kitchen is one simple Oregon-pine bench with undercounter appliances the whole length, pull-drawer fridges and dishwasher and a freestanding cooker. I designed the island bench with a lovely round Belfast sink dropped into it with exposed copper plumbing.
Interior designer, Louella Boitel-Gill
The main house has two bedrooms that work off the main living area and Jan [the previous owner] had opened up the first bedroom with wide sliding barn doors, which works perfectly to make the space feel larger. All we did was replace the handles on the cupboards with rope and add a pair of stone handles to the sliding doors.
You can only smile on arrival, as the most beautiful blue barn-style front door announces the colour palette of the house and leads your eye into the guest bedroom and through to the ensuite.
Beds dressed in linens by Society of Wanderers, wardrobe handles replaced with rope and the sliding door pulls are Stone Hooks by Normann Copenhagen.
Both bedrooms had sunrooms that ran off them, and the old verandahs had been closed in with multiple classic Queensland windows installed above the timber walls to let in a little light.
Eames dining chairs in the sunroom are made super-comfy with sheepskin throws, while an oversized cotton pendant from The Society Inc adds a wonderful luminosity after the sun goes down.
Working on this house, by nurturing the character it already had and injecting further life into it with loads of vintage bits and pieces, has been so special. There’s something about the way it makes you feel when you open the top half of the barn door and, with a chai in hand, look out over the street to the cafes and shops. It’s a house that people drop into, wave at as they go by, a house that makes you feel calm; a friendly house.
The Spanish chair, by Danish designer Børge Mogensen, hugs a nook, while two squishy armchairs, called “the most comfortable armchairs in the world” by their manufacturer Maker & Son, fill the space. The big log side table is by ‘Twiggy’ Greg Hatton, a favourite designer of mine. Painting by the door is a vintage find, artist unknown. The rest were hunted out with my restless eye.
It’s a house with a creek and rainforest at the back door, an ocean down the hill and ever-changing abundant wildlife. Sometimes it feels like they’ll all move in too!
The ensuite with a zinc bathtub, old sheep shearer’s bench as a vanity and stone bowl wash basin all lend a wonderfully bohemian air, in tune with my home’s Byron location.
I turned both sunrooms into bathrooms, so each bedroom has its own, both complete with old zinc baths, one with a tiled shower. Not finished yet, the bathroom at the front of the house had old double-glass doors out to the corner of the verandah, with another set of latticed double doors closing it off from the front verandah. This proved the perfect spot for a beach shower, tiled with the most amazing blue encaustic tiles. I obsessed over the rich colour.
An old trolley re-emerges as a rustic vanity, complete with bespoke copper taps. The Merchant basin is from Slabshapers, Byron Bay.
We all think we have far more control over this life of ours than we actually do, but things find us more than the other way around. When something is meant to be, there’s no getting away from it. Gypsy Creek found us and we’re very grateful. Our job is to look after her, just as she will look after us.
Homeowner Louella Boitel-Gill describes this spot as a “mantel curated with treasures, an oversized brass safety pin and postcard of my Citroën 2CV. One of my own paintings hangs over the mantel.”
This is an edited extract from The Originals: Beach Houses To Fall In Love With by Deborah Bibby. Available at Bauer Media Books, $50.
