ROUND THE BLOCK After a decade of two TV renovators’ vision and hard work, an abandoned clubhouse does a full 360 to become their very own slice of Queensland paradise
Who lives here Michael and Carlene Duffy, home renovators, interior designers and TV hosts; their son Paddy, 11, daughter Stella, nine; and four-year-old labrador Harry.
Style of home A rundown 1970s brick building that was once part of a health spa, now transformed into a stylish family home. After buying the property in December 2009, the couple spent the next 12 months making the building liveable enough to move in. They added another wing in 2017, and later gutted and refitted the interior of the original structure.
When Michael Duffy first suggested to his wife Carlene that they check out an unusual property he’d spotted online, she wasn’t overly enthusiastic. For starters, the couple were finishing off the renovation of their home at the northern end of the Gold Coast and the potential new house was 30 kilometres away, in the hinterland of Tallebudgera.
They’d also just become parents to their first child, Paddy, who’s now 11. “Moving was the last thing on my mind if I’m honest,” says Carlene, laughing. However, she agreed to take a look and was immediately captivated by the property’s lush semi-rural location. “As soon as we drove into the street, I felt like I was home. It was very alluring.” Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the property. While it did have a large pool, the house, which had once been the clubhouse for a health retreat, was by then an abandoned, burnt-out wreck.
The Duffys, however, could see the long-term potential, both as an investment and as an amazing place to raise their family (daughter Stella was born in 2011). They threw in a “ridiculous” offer and, before they could say, ‘What have we done?’, had sold their renovated home and bought a third of a hectare containing a large concrete slab wrapped around a swimming pool. And an uninhabitable house.
It took Michael, an experienced carpenter, a year of working evenings and weekends while they lived with Carlene’s sister to make the house fit to live in. “It was very, very basic,” says Carlene. “We didn’t have any flooring, cabinet fronts or even any benchtops in the kitchen when we first moved in. But we just chipped away at it over time. We had a very love-hate relationship with the house because it did feel like we weren’t getting anywhere with it sometimes. It did test my patience.”
It was the desire to win some money to enable them to finish the home that was the driver for the couple taking part in 2014’s The Block Glasshouse. Unfortunately, they walked away with only $10,000, a far cry from the vast sums won by contestants in later seasons. Stage two of the renovation had to wait until 2017, when they were finally able to build a bedroom and bathroom wing on the opposite side of the pool, plus a two-storey brick tower with a rumpus and upstairs guest bedroom. “We always knew we could wrap the house around the pool,” says Carlene, “but our problem was that if we used all of the concrete slab, the house would have been bigger than we knew what to do with.”
“However, at that point Michael’s cousin and her partner, who were final year architecture students, came up with the
RUMPUS Carlene hates having a TV in the main living room. This one in the secondary sitting area is camouflaged by the picture wall. Santa Monica sofa, Plush. TV unit and side table, Ikea. Walls painted Resene Mantle. KITCHEN SINK (opposite top) Behind the Chambord Louis sink from Abey are windows that Michael sourced from a 1950s Queenslander. LAUNDRY (opposite below)
The bespoke walls are Istinto Levigata by Luxury Wall Finishes. Washer and dryer, both Electrolux.
LIVING Two blue velvet Santa Monica sofas from Plush formed the basis for this scheme, which makes great use of the original concrete floor. Teak hand-shaped chair, Salvation Army. Cork side table, Collectika. Tussah linen on curtains, Unique Fabrics. STAIRCASE (opposite left) This heads down to an as-yet-unfinished area below the main house. Artworks by Vynka Hallam from Kira & Kira.
CHILDREN’S ROOMS (opposite right) Both are clad in textured EasyVJ panelling from Easycraft, painted Resene Madison. “I didn’t want every room to be a different colour as you walked down the hallway,” says Carlene. There’s dusty pink linen from Kip & Co in Stella’s, and a framed photograph of the family’s vintage caravan in Paddy’s.
“I love juxtaposing vintage furniture and artworks with more contemporary pieces and finishes” CARLENE DUFFY, HOMEOWNER/DESIGNER
genius idea of carving up some of the slab to create a courtyard, and then connecting the original house to the new part with an internal breezeway.”
The next stage of the renovation started in 2019, almost a decade after the couple first set eyes on their “big, beautiful money pit”. The interior of the original side of the house was gutted, and Carlene finally got the slate-green kitchen of her dreams, along with a striking circular dining area that forms one side of the island bench. “I wanted a round table to break up the squareness of that space, and Michael came up with the idea of incorporating banquette seating into the island,” she says.
“It’s worked much better than we could ever have imagined.”
Describing her interiors style as eclectic, Carlene drew on the mid-century vibe of the house and mixed it with more classical elements, such as decorative skirtings and VJ wall panelling, which are used throughout. “I gave myself a lot of freedom to borrow from any styles that I love. It’s definitely a mash-up,” says Carlene. A big fan of colour, she’s went for a palette of greens, blues and a touch of salmon pink. “I love to live with colour but am not really drawn to brights or pastels. I actually spent a lot of time sampling various shades to make sure I got exactly what I wanted.”
After more than a decade, the Duffys’ vision for their forever home has come to life and they can finally relax. “I can’t imagine ever going anywhere else,” says Carlene. “This house was always about the lifestyle, and we’d be absolutely bonkers to do a project for this long and then not get to enjoy it!”
1 Entry
2 Kitchen
3 Dining area
4 Living area
5 Deck
6 Office
7 Laundry
8 Powder room
9 Courtyard
10 Rumpus
11 Guest room
“Paddy and Stella’s rooms aren’t small by any means and both have queen-size beds, good wardrobe space and built-in desks. But as they tend to play in their rooms and use them more during the day, the extra space that, in hindsight, we just don’t need in our bedroom, would have been better utilised in theirs.”
“We knew we were a bit bonkers to buy this place but the location was so captivating. I love being surrounded by the ancient gum trees”
Soho velvet in Burnt Orange, $220, Darcy & Duke. Celine 3.5-seatervelvet sofa, $2490, Trit House. Luxury velvet cushion in Khaki (50cm), $59.95, Aura Home. Palms Clay outdoor cushion (60cm), $290, Bonnie and Neil. Zylone Sheen waterborne interior paint in Madison (left) and Mantle, $101.42 and $94.15 per 4L respectively, Resene. Handcrafted Rani viscose/cotton/wool rug (152cm x 244cm), $799, West Elm. Vanoise wall bracket light in Grey Patina, $219, Schots Home Emporium. Linen single duvet cover in Khaki, $220, In Bed. Orange Blossom Water skin care, $48 for 250ml, Libertine Parfumerie. Gladom metal tray table in Blue (45cm x 53cm), $19.99, Ikea. Vitra ‘Cork Family’ stool, $795, Living Edge.
(this page and opposite right) Across the pool are black and tan bricks from PGH with Weathertex EcoWall cladding. Awning, Peter Meyers Blinds. Arc loungers, Worn. (opposite left) The rough-sawn black-timber exterior was inspired by Rodd & Gunn men’s clothing store on Noosa’s Hastings Street. “I always wanted a black house,” says Carlene. “When you live in a lush setting, it blends into the surroundings and is easier on the eye.” Michael made the oversized blackbutt front door.