Interiors

A Timeless, Sophisticated Beach House

When you only have 6 months to complete a project, you cross all your fingers and all your toes that everything goes to plan. But when your builder pulls out 2 months in, most people would have a serious problem.

Luckily for Georgina Jeffries, local construction company Karacsay Constructions took up the challenge… and delivered the project a week ahead of schedule! The result is ‘Mizu House’, a light-filled contemporary beach house with refined, local craftsmanship at its heart.

Written
by
Sasha Gattermayr

This corner of intersecting textures demonstrate the exquisite workmanship from the ground up! Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

Pops of colour peep in from outside at every opportunity. Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

Smooth joinery is subtle but expertly crafted. Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

The cosy bunk bed nooks evoke maritime feelings resemble with rounded lights ship cabins!  Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

Some seriously good byunk beds. Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

The restrained palette continues from the communal zones into the private retreats. Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

These ocean views and native trees inspired Georgina’s natural palette for the interiors. Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

Tadelakt lime plaster was hand applied to surfaces in the wet rooms to give the walls the appearance of smooth, cave-like stone. Photo – Cricket Photography Studio.

Writer
Sasha Gattermayr
1st of May 2020

Georgina Jeffries was afforded an unusual amount of freedom from her clients when she received her brief for the Mizu House in Lorne. The original structure was built 13 years ago, but the same owners wanted their beach house to accommodate a growing extended family over holiday periods.

‘The brief was more about what the client wanted to fit into the space, rather than how they wanted the house to look,’ Georgina explains. Together with her team, Georgina re-choreographed the existing interiors to create two extra bedrooms (including cosy built-in bunks!), and a rumpus room upstairs for the grandchildren.

Aside from the logistics required for fitting everyone into the space, Georgina wanted to create an unpretentious and inviting retreat that would suit all generations of the sprawling extended family. ‘We knew we could get the planning to work, so our biggest goal was to inject warmth and calm to the spaces,’ explains Georgina. The result? A light-filled contemporary beach house filled with smooth joinery and refined materials.

Views of the ocean stretch out through native trees from the balcony, and were the key to informing Georgina’s pared-back palette for the interiors. Tadelakt plaster is a waterproof finish applied by hand, which Georgina and her team used in the bathrooms to render a stone-like texture to the surfaces. Natural timber, lining board, sisal and wool carpets complete the restrained yet earthy palette the lime plaster lends to wet areas.

‘Our clients gave us a lot of freedom and trust with the design, but now I look back at the project, I think we’ve created something reflective of them: charming, understated and graceful.’

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