Drama. Dark rich drama. Style and panache. Subtropical gardens and a grand old house that has grown and evolved over the generations. On trend and reported to be in an upcoming interiors magazine, this Byron Bay house is my latest real estate stalking target. I’ve been seduced and I think you will be too. There is very little I would change. Dark  walls, fuchsia pink coffee table, rich green sofas and sparkling chandelier. Yes please. Kitchen and family dining, perfect for my needs. The hallway is an entrance to paradise. (Calm down Jo.) Perhaps we should arrange an inspection to see just how good it is in person. Byron Bay here we come! Link here while it lasts.

In a departure from his signature highly decorative Hollywood Regency/midcentury glamor style leading Australian interior designer Greg Natale has taken a inner city terrace, played with scale and colour, streamlined his rich multilayered interiors and delivered a home that is dramatic and stylish. Sultry grey is lifted by white. Furniture is carefully curated and oversize is not out of place in the play. In the new extension kitchen and family room are open plan and sleekly modern, the perfect counterfoil to the high drama of the rest of the house. A grey beauty indeed.

Natural light. That lovely filtered light that wakes you through the filmy curtains. The strong shaft of bright light that moves across your kitchen table as the day ages. It’s warm and sweet, soft and welcoming. I love to see rooms captured in natural light. Like a beautiful face without makeup. Real and lovely. No artifice, loads of personality. I’m really liking photographer Simon Griffith‘s photographs. The rooms are welcoming and gentle. No special effects. Just beautiful spaces captured beautifully.

I love when emails from SAOTA pop into my inbox. Exciting new designs from South Africa. I always think of them as “houses for when you have arrived”.  There is a softening of materials in this new house. Natural materials and a limited palette but still the contemporay luxury that SAOTA is known for. Here’s how the designers describe their latest project Silverhurst at Constantia, Cape Town.

VIVID Architects prepared the initial concept design for this home, a contemporary reboot of the more classical architectural styles. SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects and ANTONI ASSOCIATES were then appointed to refine & develop the design and oversee the project to completion.  The facade is Georgian inspired but the modern aspect of the look is driven by a dynamic of recessed and projecting panels and cubes that create courtyards and terraces that articulate and add interest to what is a highly organised shell. The interiors, by ANTONI ASSOCIATES, are equally sculpted.

Entering the house, a large light-filled entrance hall divides the two ground-floor wings which consist of a series of living spaces that open out to a private courtyard and the very edgy Franchesca Watson landscaped garden beyond.  For the design ethic within the house, ultra-slick finishes and a futuristic home-tech edge were chosen. Stripped back ceilings with recessed details cleverly hide curtain tracks and act as a mechanism through which wooden feature walls can disappear out of sight, lending each room a clean crisp finish. Clusters of directional spotlights were selected to add ambience and subtly highlight architectural nuances, such as the floating stairs.

Natural materials were used to add warmth and texture throughout. Jerusalem stone flooring extends from the main entrance through most of the internal and external spaces giving way to fumed oak floors in the living and dining areas, as well as American cedar for the doors and pergolas and Ipe for the pool decking.  This natural but uncluttered linear language was carried through to the decor by Mark Rielly of ANTONI ASSOCIATES who opted for solid timber pieces. Leather and suede were chosen for the upholstery. Feature lights are also strategically placed to add drama and definition to different spaces. The symbiosis between the decor and architecture is such that the overall impression is that of a clean but carefully considered scheme that soothes with its high-end modern appeal.

Today I’m stalking interior design history. High atop The Princeton building in Double Bay, Sydney is the penthouse apartment home of one of the most recognisable figures in Australian interior design Leslie Walford AM. Occupying the entire top floor of the 1939 Art Deco  building, the 500sqm penthouse sanctuary commands uninterrupted northerly harbour views to Manly. Walford, who died this year, set the taste and style of Sydney’s eastern suburbs through the ’60s and ’70s. If Florence Broadhurst was the style maven of the beau monde decorating scene then Walforde was interior design doyen of the establishment. His was an eclectic mix of antique furniture, Australian art, rich oriental rugs and objet sourced from around the world. His penthouse home is a time capsule of a life well lived, of style and grace and another time. If you have the rumored $4.5+ million it is for sale here. The contents are being auctioned at Mossgreen on November 18.