Life aquatic

The historical cottage oasis of designer Elise Pioch is characterised by treasured pieces.

ELISE PIOCH RECEIVED the keys to her family’s weekender on Christmas Eve 2020, right before Sydney’s Northern Beaches were subsequently locked down. “It was a beautiful gift for us [her husband Pablo Chappell and daughter LouLou, aged eight] to be stuck in a new home for three weeks,” she tells us. “Looking at these photographs, it feels like a house from another time, which is quite rare in this part of the world.” In the next 12 months, they hope to move in full-time.

“There is a sense of stillness here, the boats just moving with the winds, the bush, the kookaburras and that connection with nature is a huge drawcard. And that sense of disconnection from a busy life,” she says, which includes running her brand Maison Balzac, and opening a new flagship store in Sydney’s Surry Hills. “It’s a beautiful place to refuel your energy, creativity and mind,” she says.

The house has already inspired her next collection ‘Fruits of the Sea’, to be released in 2022. Pioch will be ‘bottling’ the colours, the smells “eucalyptus oils and salt in the air” and incredible nature. She is a magician – her glassware (made on the border between Mongolia and China), candles (poured in Bowral and Sydney), perfume (blended in Sydney), essential oils (from Melbourne) and incense (from Japan), capture the desire for uplifting homewares.

Elise Pioch, French-born Sydneysider and founder of design company Maison Balzac since 2012. A bay in Pittwater, in the north of Sydney. A 1950s cedarwood cottage built in two parts, the higher house on the hillside inside Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, and the boatshed with a pontoon and direct access to the water. By boat. “This boat, called Fitzroy, was the Cockatoo Island historical ferry, built in 1927, and was used to transport boatbuilders to the island. We are still deciding if we will move or keep the palm trees and plants here, but the boatshed will eventually become completely self-sustainable with a real connection to the water.” Who: Where: What: Access: