Bronte is a very relaxed, laid-back suburb, very community oriented. It's got a great
feeling about it. Katie and Todd came to us with the brief to create a very relaxed family home,
pretty bulletproof, three kids, lots of mates over all the time,
big oversized comfy, pieces of furniture, easy connection through all the spaces, but then
there's still designated areas like Katie with her living room, which was a big thing for her.
The good thing with Katie was that she was very happy to take risks, experiment with colour,
have a bit of fun. She's just got life and that worked well for both of us.
When you design a house close to the water, you really need to be
aware of the sea mist, the breeze, all those things, so it was all about
solidity. The exterior cladding, they use an amazing product, it's just a beautiful pale timber
which doesn't change over time. It's very robust and very natural.
When you first walk in through the rear, you walk down and first thing you see is the natural
texture of the crazy paving and then you come into the kitchen, which is the concrete floors.
The kitchen, I guess it's small but it's big because of the focal point of the island and you
can always see the front door to the back, to the view, with the three living areas.
It was important to have that as a natural segue into the different spaces.
The upstairs master retreat is just maximising the view.
It's very serene, peaceful, you just look out over greenery and then beyond.
We used a lot of colour throughout the property to offset all the muted, natural textures. We
bought in the beautiful royal blue kitchen joinery, the pink walls in the dining room.
That's sort of more of an element of surprise,
you walk towards the living area and you look to the left and there's that pop of colour.
The tile palace was quite important for this project; natural, earthy materials, not anything
too clean and then to actually have the timber ceiling, that really just warms up the space.
That is just the key element that makes a simple building structure quite warm and inviting.
There's just such a great opportunity there to play with colour, pattern,
shapes and so that was the basis of the whole project. I just think the more you
are experimental and take a bit of a risk, often it works out really well.
The fireplace is clearly, it's the nucleus of this house. It's just a very simple design. It's
all about the flame; that ambient light and that sense of warmth. Nothing's taking over.
The model we're showing here in the Bronte House is the Escea DS1150. This is one of the biggest
selling fireplaces in our range, primarily for its size and sleek look and finishing.
One of the biggest benefits to the Escea DS range of fireplaces is the ability to finish combustible
materials right down to the edge of the glass and also put paintings and televisions only
200mL above the edge. What our fireplaces bring to homes like these is a gathering point to sit
around in the ambience of the fire. It's always very pleasing to see our fireplaces installed
in such high-end designer settings. It gives me a great sense of pride.
When you walk in here you instantly get the solid feeling of it. When you pull these doors open, you
just get this amazing connection to the gully, the landscape, the greenery, the sound of the waves.
Living up here, perched on a hill, looking out and you're right amongst it.