VOGUE VOYAGE
BAYWATCH The world is your oyster (and it comes with a glass of champagne) on Tasmania’s stunning east coast.
DESPITE ITS BEAUTY, THIS IS A HOME THAT FEELS LIVED IN, SOULFUL
Every Friday night, Fiona Myer, entrepreneur, art patron and wife of Sidney Myer, the grandson of the founder of the Myer retailing behemoth, has dinner with her husband in “the tunnel”. The image this conjures up of a dingy underground pass is, of course, wildly contrary to reality. Tall and slender, poised and elegantly dressed, Myer is the epitome of chic sophistication, while the tunnel she’s referring to is the stunning architectural feature of her family farm: a 16-hectare weekend retreat 45 kilometres from central Melbourne.
Photographed on the sweeping grounds of this farm – with its neat gardens; three perfectly manicured mazes named after her grown-up children, William, Edward and Jessica; and untamed forest covering half the property – it’s hard to imagine a tunnel in this picture. But the re-purposed CityLink drain, craned onto the property and placed on a formed slab as a cut-andfit, is an extraordinarily unique and atmospheric subterranean space connecting the main house to the sprawling pool house.
The inventive concept is characteristic of Myer’s artistic flair. Since studying fine arts at Melbourne’s Monash University, she’s carved out a career in creative realms – fashion forecaster, ceramicist and creative director.
White Story, launched in 2015 with her friend and business partner Wai Tang, is her latest high-end fashion endeavour, “a move back to basics”, born from the idea of savouring the simple things in life, like time spent with family and friends.
“It’s like going back to a blank canvas,” she says. “For me that meant white, which is both transparent and anonymous.”
White Shirts is the first in a chapter of the label’s unfolding narrative, which is open to limitless interpretations in future – be that children’s wear, menswear, stationery, even hotels. The current collection of Australian- designed and manufactured luxury tailored shirts is very much a reflection of Myer’s own sartorial persuasion: elegant, timeless and authentic.
It’s a signature that spills over into her country home, too. Although the main building is in the midst of a rebuild, the pool house is a white-onwhite canvas, filled with natural light and open to the outdoors, uncluttered and minimal but infused with personal touches such as perfectly stacked jars of pretty preserves, bursts of flowers and unbridled greenery, books and artworks aplenty. “When designing a space, I use raw objects as a base, a layer to build on,” she explains. Mixing steel with timber is an example of this, providing a strong and authentic space.
Despite its beauty, this is a home that feels lived in, intimate and soulful, rather than contrived, an embodiment of Myer’s decorative approach.
“It’s all about the tapestry of your life. However young or old you are, it’s about bringing in your own elements and
passions,” she says. Art, architecture and ceramics are her prevailing inspirations, as too is conversation.
While the Myer children, all in their 20s, have left home, their parents still revel in great company, often inviting interesting people to gather in their weekend oasis. “For both of us it’s about mixing all walks of life – artists, politicians, business people and young people. We get enormous enjoyment mixing with our children and their friends, too,” says Myer.
Guests here embark on a journey of sound, touch and feel that often starts in that magical tunnel. Music, ambient lighting and ensuring a comfortable temperature are, for Myer, key to setting the scene. Dining in the unusual location is thrilling for guests, who are seated around trestle tables set along an elevated catwalk that hovers above the concrete, while hanging Edison lights and wine racks built in the walls create warmth, “so it feels like a house; you don’t feel like you’re underground”.
“I wanted it to feel mysterious and yet intimate. The tunnel should take you on a hundred-metre journey, finally winding its way into a white-on-white pool house,” says Myer of the experience. “I guess it’s a bit like the way I like to dress; it’s very positive/negative.”
When they’re not playing the perfect hosts, the couple use the farm as a place of reprieve. Myer swims in the lap pool each day and also likes to lounge on one of the day beds beside it. “I just love lying there reading my books, magazines and newspapers and simply falling asleep beneath the pleached plane trees.”
A walk on the land with their beloved dogs, Humphrey and Hoover, is also a favourite pastime. In summer, the couple pick Austin roses from their garden, and in autumn gather oak leaves for display in Perspex troughs or, if visitors are expected, for distribution at doorways for the delightful crunch at entry – another of those sensory details that Myer is so good at.
Even when inside, the home’s hilltop location means there’s a strong connection to nature and the views. “We overlook Port Phillip Bay to the west, the north overlooks Melbourne and from the north-east is the Dandenong Ranges, providing an almost panoramic view,” says Myer.
This means, she admits, that the wind can be fierce at times. Those occasions would also be special in their own way – a great excuse to hunker down, drink in the surrounds from the huge windows, as well, perhaps, as a fine bottle of wine from the Myers’ exceptional cellar.