View Finders
The dramatic transformation of a 1920s cottage on Sydney’s Northern Beaches – on time and under budget.
Before they’d even stepped through the front door, Suzy and Nick O’Rourke knew this home they’d come to inspect was the one. But because it was the first property they viewed, they weren’t completely confident about acting on their gut feeling. “We thought ‘surely it can’t be that easy?’” says Suzy. “So we looked at other houses for the next two months before we circled back and bought this one.”
Situated on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the 1920s cottage did need some work. But the spectacular location, offering gorgeous views out over swaying palms to the sea beyond, was worth it. “The home was bathed in winter sun when we saw it, and it had a lovely, relaxed feel,” she says.
That was 12 years ago, when their son Ollie was just four and Suzy was pregnant with daughter Lola. Not long after moving in, the couple undertook some minor renovations – increasing the size of the deck and courtyard to allow for more outdoor living – but made a decision to leave a bigger renovation until the kids were older. “Then our third child, Finn, came along and we needed more space. The answer was to add another storey.”
A milliner and artist, Suzy has an innate understanding of design. Indeed, she had previously developed the interiors for holiday rental The Shed in Gerroa, NSW (featured in H&G August 2016), so she relished the opportunity to take on this renovation project for her family.
“Our architect, Alexander Michael, helped us work up a floor plan. From that we gained better spatial flow and an amazing parents’ retreat on the first floor that has a beautiful ‘lighthouse’ feel,” says Suzy. “I wanted every room to be quite casual. We’re pretty relaxed people and I felt the home should reflect our beachy lifestyle, in texture and materials.”
From the front door, a hallway flanked by the children’s bedrooms leads to the open-plan living area. A library and office nook is tucked in opposite the living area, which has a stone fire surround as its focal point. Some clever remodelling of this floor saw an oddly positioned bathroom shifted and the space opened right up.
The kitchen has been masterfully designed, with in-line cabinetry flowing out to the deck to offer additional bench space for meal preparation. “The kitchen isn’t massive; this is a cottage, after all,”
she says, “so my answer was to integrate the fridge, keep the cabinetry understated, and to run it outside so the kitchen looks twice as big as it actually is.”
For Suzy, the best thing about the kitchen is its Pitt Cooking burners, which are set straight into the benchtop. “I’ll admit I became quite fixated on having them!” says Suzy, laughing. “You can set them in any formation and we love having them in a semi-circle so there’s as much Caesarstone visible as we can have. It makes a difference in a small kitchen.”
Downstairs, there is a family room and a soundproofed recording studio for Nick, who works as a voiceover artist. This space opens out to a courtyard and the pool. The home’s crowning glory, though, is its new top level. “It has beautiful, wraparound windows – they really make the space,” says Suzy. Plantation shutters create privacy and reference the home’s heritage.
In the main bedroom, the bed is positioned in the centre of the space, with the bath set under the bedroom windows. “It wouldn’t quite fit in the ensuite and was originally designed to sit where my workspace is, but there’s such beautiful lig light there I felt it was better used as
a spot to paint and design.” From the outset, Suzy had a clear idea of how she wanted the house to look and feel: layered, relaxed and beachy. “I stuck to a palette of concrete, white and grey, even down to the flooring and the Marrakech finish plaster for the ensuite – it’s a textured, velvety grey and one of our favourite features in the whole house.”
All the fittings and furniture were selected by Suzy, with the bulk of the furniture custommade in Indonesia from her drawings. “Friends told me I was brave for doing it that way, but we’re thrilled with the pieces we received,” she says.
In the end, the renovation came in on time and under budget –“we made all our decisions early on and stuck pretty closely to them” – and, now, there’ s just so much about the house to love, says Suzy. “All those times we climbed a ladder to see what the view might look like have really paid off. Sundays mornings are sacred; we’ll sit upstairs and have a cup of tea, gazing out to the ocean. When you’ve put in the hard work, it makes the enjoyment all the more sweet.”
Suzy O’Rourke Interiors, Collaroy, NSW; suzyorourke.com.au. Alexander Michael & Associates, Paddington, NSW; siloboy.com.