Photography: Mindi Cooke
For many couples approaching retirement, it can be the time to downsize, to move into town and to find a low-maintenance home. However, for Mark and Jillian, it was the opposite. The couple, now grandparents, have recently relocated from a city apartment on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to their new build on the edge of the hinterland, with space to spare. Called Figtree, after a huge Queensland weeping fig in the front of the property, the resort-style home was a new build, designed to host all their children and grandchildren when they all come home for Christmas and holidays.
in two-pac Resene Alabaster and VJ panelling is painted in Resene Lemon Grass. Bar stools from Globe West. (Credit: Photography: Mindi Cooke )
With a main suite and three extra bedrooms, refurbished heirloom furniture and a design that makes the most out of sweeping bush views, Figtree was styled to reflect the family who live there.
Drive behind the design
“With the timber floor, we were umming and ahhing because there were so many choices, but i was determined not to have any carpet in the house,” Jillian.
For Mark and Jillian, designing Figtree was all about creating a beautiful space for their adult children to visit, along with “the grandees”, as Jillian calls them. After a few years living in a Sunshine Coast beachside apartment, they were ready to escape the politics of body corporate living to create their own resort-style home on the outskirts of town. They spent months looking for the right site, before settling on this block, which came with a rundown Queenslander, but had the possibility of fabulous views.
The final design was done by Hive Architecture, but Mark conceptualised everything from the beginning. “We got Hive Architecture involved to make my design work, which was brilliant.”
The planning process
from Ceramica Senio feature on the island and repeat on the splashback. Pendants from MCM House hang overhead. (Credit: Photography: Mindi Cooke)
The first thing the couple tackled was to get rid of the existing rundown house. “Once the old cottage was removed from site, we then had a blank canvas that we could work with,” says Mark. “And that’s when Damian [Goode] from Hive Architecture came onboard.” While Mark had clear ideas about what he wanted, he says that Damian’s skills made it all work, including optimising the views and preserving a huge Queensland weeping fig that was a local landmark. The tree was isolated by a large setback and a retaining wall built to preserve its roots.
While Jillian had a strong vision for the style of home, she worked with two local interior experts to help her pull it together. Martine Blair from Zooi Design did the interior material choices, while Hayley Jenkin of Wholehearted Studio worked with Jillian on furniture, artwork and accessories.
Special features
and the chair is from Rachel Donath. The photo above the bed is by their daughter Sammy, while the poppy painting is by Lauren Jones. (Credit: Photography: Mindi Cooke)
“Everyone who comes here and walks through the front door says, ‘oh my goodness, Jullian and Mark, you’ve got your own resort,'” Jillian.
The biggest feature of the home is the spectacular Queensland weeping fig tree in front of the house, which has given the home its name and is a local landmark. “She’s about a hundred years old and when we started work, everyone in the neighbourhood said, ‘You’re not chopping the tree down, are you?’ says Jillian. “Like the Morton Bays, she’s massive, with a huge trunk. So we had to dig quite a big retaining wall around her to preserve her.”
The other memorable feature about the interiors is the nod to Africa throughout. Jillian and Mark’s daughter Sammy is married to a Zimbabwean, and has travelled extensively in Africa, taking photos and bringing back artifacts. Designer Hayley Jenkin had many of the photos enlarged and framed and they are featured throughout the house as artworks.
Lessons learnt
As the budget got tight near the end of the build, Jillian said they had to watch every penny, and that sometimes meant doing the research and buying things themselves. “Martine of Zooi Design picks absolutely lovely things,” says Jillian. “But we had to be very careful because the budget had gone over during construction and we were trying to reel it in.
“For example, Martine had specified these beautiful white concrete lights for the external and internal walls, which could either be a downlight or uplight mounted on the wall. Beautiful – but when we priced them, they came out to about $620 each. And throughout the house, there’s 35 to 40 of them. “Mark put his foot down and said ‘no’, so I did my research and went to a company called Fat Shack Vintage in Melbourne, and we ended getting white concrete downlights that were very similar and so much cheaper.”
Coco Republic. For similar chairs, try ‘Butterfly’ chairs from Magnolia Lane. (Credit: Photography: Mindi Cooke )
Source Book
Architect Hive Architecture, hivearchitecture.com.au
Interior design Zooi Design, zooidesign.com.au
Interior decorating and styling Wholehearted Studio, wholeheartedstudio.com.au
Builder Maymar Constructions @maymarconstructionsqld
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