There’s nothing quite like a classic Australian summer. Long days at the beach, backyard barbecues, and the warm, happy glow the sun casts on everything and everyone.
This was the energy interior architect Edwina Glenn wanted to bring into a recent renovation of a Portsea beach shack, located near Point Nepean National Park right at the end of the Mornington Peninsula.
‘The owners of the house are very old friends of mine,’ she says.
Edwina and the owners had ‘enjoyed the ultimate weekend’ together at Satellite Island in Tasmania just before embarking on the project. ‘They were keen to recreate some of the understated low-key luxury and comfort from that magical experience down on the Mornington Peninsula,’ she adds.
The weatherboard home was already a ‘little beauty’, featuring timeless details in the original seagrass matting on the floors and solid pine timber beams that were able to be retained and restored.
‘I wanted to move away from the typical Portsea weatherboard white-wall interiors and bring more ambience and joy into the family house,’ Edwina says.
They took a light touch to the renovation, refreshing each room without altering the existing floorplan. Aged brass details, sisal mats, and tones of yellow and blue were layered alongside joyful wallpapers and Carrara marble to warm up the ‘very basic’ white tiled bathrooms.
Edwina also introduced stripes, cane furniture, and a custom checked wool rug to bring a bit of a ’60s aesthetic to the living room, grounded by the original limestone fireplace.
All these eclectic details are tied together by the new soft minty green walls. ‘The colour reminded me of the velvety Lamb’s Ears leaves I grew up stroking in our family garden,’ Edwina says.
‘It sits as such a quiet, but somehow invigorating, background to the other elements and connects the house to the garden. White walls just felt too glaring for an Australian summer.’
Beyond the sun-soaked interiors, there’s a tennis court and swimming pool on the property. When the owners aren’t enjoying the getaway, it’s also available for short-stay bookings — and who wouldn’t want to escape to this dreamy, nostalgic beach retreat?
