Free Range & Fabulous

Returning to the scene of a happy childhood in the Gold Coast hinterland, this couple built their own house in the rainforest.

- Rosa Senese

Growing up in Queensland on her parents’ 4000m² property, Vrinda Hansen and her siblings experienced the simple joys of a free-range Australian childhood. “We would spend days playing in the seasonal creek, riding our bikes on the quiet dead-end streets or exploring the surrounding reserve,” she reminisces. “I wanted that for my own children.”

Vrinda’s husband Gavin was in agreement, so, in 2010, having renovated and sold a home just across the border in Tweed Heads, the couple cleared the front half of her parents’ block in preparation for building. There, in the subtropical rainforest setting of the Currumbin Valley, they built a warm, personal home much enjoyed by daughter Gopi, now 13, son Karna, 10, and a menagerie of animals.

“We designed every inch ourselves,” says Vrinda. Her layout was the result of many hours spent drawing plans, dreaming and imagining the experience of living in the completed house – including the cook’s view from the kitchen and exactly where the family would curl up in front of the fireplace. Vrinda’s knowledge of the site was invaluable. “I designed the deck to follow the dry creek bed, so that when it rained we could lean over the balcony and watch the water flow past,” she explains. As owner-builders, the couple also constructed the house themselves, with help from local carpenter David Robbie.