Q&A with Sandy McKinley

EVERYDAY INDULGENCE: Coffee. We have three commercial La Scala Butterfly machines on the property.

A LOW-COST TIP FOR OTHER HOMEOWNERS:

Use paint – a colour change can be transformational. My go-to colour is Dulux Blue Ridge.

MOST TREASURED OBJECT: My dad’s Steiff

teddy bear from the 1920s.

WORDS TO LIVE BY: Love life and life will love you back.

LAST PIECE OF ART YOU BOUGHT: A print of a work by French impressionist Pascal Amblard. BEST GIFT EVER GIVEN: Taking Rob to visit his ancestral home of Scotland, for the first time.

TUNE IN YOUR HEAD: Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone. Flying and travelling is in the blood. FAVOURITE FILM: High Society with Grace Kelly. DESIGN HERO: Chris Madden and his book The Soul of a House.

MUST-VISIT MUSEUM: The Victoria & Albert each time we visit London.

FAVOURITE BUILDING: The Library of Trinity College Dublin, for the architecture, wood, books and history.

BELOW LEFT Sandy working in the rosegrowing paddock which was established with 1500 perfumed David Austin rose plants.

LEFT Sandy and Rob relax with some neighbours in a part of the garden sheltered by a character brick wall.