Home of character

The European-inspired style of this Southport home gives it a unique character more commonly seen overseas

ESCAPE to what feels like the other side of the world in this European-inspired home.

The Southport residence’s high ceilings, feature balustrades and central courtyard give it character more commonly seen overseas.

Its unique design is what made Tea Brown fall in love with the house the moment she walked through the front door.

“I could just see that there was so much potential straight away,” she said.

She has called the three-bedroom, twobathroom house her home for the past five years.

While the property’s structure has remained the same, Mrs Brown has breathed new life into it with a refurbishment.

She said it now has a “Mediterranean feel” with floor-to-ceiling sheer curtains and antique-style furniture.

“I’ve always loved the European influence – that whole style,” Mrs Brown said.

“Whoever walks in this place just goes, ‘wow!’” But it is the garden she is most proud of. “I created a beautiful garden around (the house), there was absolutely nothing there at all,” Mrs Brown said.

The low maintenance garden, which is made up of pebbles, shrubs and trees, offers a picturesque backdrop in the courtyard as well as extra privacy around the home.

The courtyard with an undercover alfresco area and firepit makes for the ideal place to entertain guests.

The seamless flow of indoor and outdoor living is one of Mrs Brown’s favourite features of the home.

“The whole home is about bringing inside out and outside in,” Mrs Brown said.

It has an open floorplan with the kitchen, living and dining area at the front of the house while the bedrooms and bathrooms are at the back.

There are three other patios scattered around the home – one of which can only be accessed from one of the guest bedrooms while another has a built-in pizza oven.

Mrs Brown said she was going to miss lazing in the lounge room admiring the park across the road and Nerang River, which should could see through her front windows.

“It’s just glorious sitting on the couch by the fire,” she said. “It’s going to be very sad to leave. The only reason I’m leaving is because I’m going interstate. It’s a home I know I’ll never replace.”