Heart land
The Vista’s Julia Ashwood travels for a living, so her home base has to be pretty special if it’s going to lure her back
Treasures collected from all over the world give this Byron home its soul.
In the picturesque rolling hills surrounding Byron Bay, you’ll find the charming timber Queenslander that’s home to Julia Ashwood, founder of popular travel website The Vista (followthevista.com), along with her husband Matterson Rabbidge and daughter Delilah Bee. The family have lived among the banana and lemon trees – and their sweet little vegie patch – for less than a year, packing up their lives in Sydney when Delilah was only eight weeks old. For Ashwood, it was a return to roots of sorts; she grew up in nearby Lennox Head. Since moving, their challenges have had less to do with geography and more to do with architecture. “Like most Queenslanders, there’s absolutely no storage, so you have to come up with your own solutions, like cupboards, racks and loads of baskets,” she explains.
Ashwood gets to travel on the regular, penning her much-loved destination guides for The Vista. Her husband goes with her as photographer, while little Delilah is in charge of packing the cute. But how do they tear themselves away from such an idyllic spot so often? “We love to bring home an object or a souvenir from all our trips, whether it’s a cowbell or a blanket from India, a basket or woven rug from the Rose Bowl Flea Market in LA or a novelty tea towel from Hawaii. I dare say we’ll have a very exotic collection of things in 30 years’ time. We already do!” she laughs.
As with a lot of old houses, the magic of this one is in the unusual features, packed with personality and a long history. A serving hatch between the kitchen and living room allows for the flow of chat and tunes, more than it’s used for handing over dinner dishes. And panelled glass of mismatched shapes and colours gives softness to the inside light. “The master bedroom has beautiful light,” Ashwood says. “I love the long glass doors which open onto the verandah and the banana trees. It’s very peaceful waking up to the kookaburras.”
To bring a little of the hinterland inside the walls, the family have plenty of house plants, with the flashes of green adding a living energy to their eclectic treasures. They also have an ever-rotating roster of art destined for the panelled walls. “My style is random, colourful and definitely artdriven. We love to support artists when we purchase items for the house, from the linen to the breakfast bowls. Matt also runs the gallery Mild Manners [mild-manners.com] so our collection is constantly multiplying,” she says. They might need some extra walls soon.