ABOUT THE HOUSE

• Chris and Margot’s open living plan was partially designed by environmental architect Ric Butt, with heated concrete floors and clerestory windows to bring in light. (02) 6282 4877; strineenvironments.com.au • The family spends lazy days in the sunroom, which was built in the 1950s and is now air-conditioned. “In winter it’s beautiful because the grapevine outside is deciduous, so the sun pours in,” says Margot. Sofas from Coco Republic. 1300 000 220; cocorepublic.com.au Glass side table and coffee table from Domayne. domayne.com.au • On the wall in the sunroom is a sign that Margot’s grandfather, a surgeon in WWI, took from a bombed building in Belgium when the war was over. The sign reads ‘Rauchen Verboten’, which, translated from German, means ‘Smoking Forbidden’. • The double-sided oriental screen with marble inlay was given to Margot’s mother for her 40th birthday by Margot’s father and her two grandmothers. Both women loved to collect oriental antiques. • The chicken shed was the original meat and dairy store house. It was constructed from hand-cut slabs of timber from trees on the property and lined with newspapers from the 1850s; some of which remain today.