LIGHT FANTASTIC

Wrapped around a light-trapping central courtyard, this Sydney home has been designed to deliver the feel of a breezy Balinese getaway.

- Karen Spresser

EXTERIOR This page Twelve-year-old Leni laps up the sunshine in her upstairs bedroom. Render in Dulux Vivid White lends the exterior a fresh, clean look. The fence is blackbutt battens with a Cutek natural oil finish.

When it came time to build her family’s new home, Cath Patane had a clear idea of how she wanted it to look. Cath and her husband Gerard had spent family holidays in Bali when their children were little and Cath had always loved the architecture of the villas they had stayed in there. “We wanted to create that holiday feel at home, to tick all those boxes that you look for when you’re booking an Airbnb or a villa, and I just really wanted it to be very relaxed, very coastal,” she says.

The couple bought the property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2013. Back then it was a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home Cath describes as a “salmon-coloured California bungalow”.

ENTRY Opposite Painted brick walls feature in the entryway, with engineered-timber floors in Pale Oak by Woodcut. Alice console and Baba Tree basket, Jardan. Moddi mirror, MCM House.

“It was very cute. We gave it a coat of paint and new carpet and we lived there until we were ready to build our dream home.” Within walking distance to the beach, the location was definitely part of its appeal for the family, which includes children Sonny, 14, Leni, 12, and Louie, 10, along with Tugboat the French bulldog.

“We love the beach, the restaurants, the shops and the bars in this area,” says Cath. “There’s a great community here, lots of families around us. We love all the hustle and bustle.”