Displaying posts labeled "Beach"

At this time of the year the cities and towns across Australia empty as the population begins the annual Christmas migration to the beach. It is the ultimate family daydream to own a beach shack with water views or if you can’t afford to buy one then at least rent it for the two weeks around Christmas and into the new year. Sun, sand, surfing and copious amounts of seafood and alcohol. That’s the way to celebrate Christmas in the Great Southern Land. Today I’m stalking the ultimate beach shack at the most easterly tip of Australia, in the celebrity holiday town of Byron Bay. Owned by the Arnott (biscuit) family it is known by the locals as “The White House”. Time to check the biscuit jar for the extra coin though. Asking price is over $6 million AUD. Ouch! You can rent it for around $14 000 a week (Kate Moss and Elle Macpherson have). Save me a place on Boxing Day. I’ll bring the prawns and champers. Link here while it lasts.

A little fibro shack down by the beach. Something simple. A place to gather with family and friends for good times, fun in the sun. A place full of hand me down furniture where no you yells at you if you plop on the couch in wet swimmers or track sand in the back door. Maybe not high on style but that doesn’t matter. The days are spent on the beach and nights around the BBQ swatting mosquitoes and drinking beer. Except someone forgot to tell the owners of this fibro beach shack at Sorrento in Victoria that they need not worry about being stylish. If this is their holiday weekender I’d love to see their real home. Real estate stalking again. Link here while it lasts.

It’s been quite some time since Jeffrey of Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture sent us photos of his latest work. (See previous post here). He emailed recently with a few projects he has recently completed that had me momentarily transported to a land where the grass is green, plants are thriving and it’s not below freezing. Just in time for winter! 🙂 Oh, to live in the tropics like Jo and enjoy the outdoors year round. Anyhoo, these wonderfully landscaped properties are located in California (Santa Barbara, Nipomo, Cayucos and Montecito).

Resting gently on the sand dune just up from a pristine beach on New Zealand’s Coromandel beach is a hut, a simple yet not so simple beach hut. Only 40 square metres it makes the most of every bit of space to provide a beach side getaway for a family of five. It can be closed to the elements yet with the turn of a wheel and the push of glass walls it opens to the view. Oh the view! Worth it don’t you think. What makes this little self contained hut even more special is that it sits on two sleds that, with a little effort from a sturdy tractor, can make repositioning the home in response to the ever changing beachfront easy. It sits lightly upon the land this simple, clever hut. Beach side living stripped back to its elegant basics. It was time to go back and explore the portolio of  Auckland based Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects again. So glad I did.

Solid as a rock. Anchored to the dunes. Protection against wind and spray, sun and seasons. A stylish shelter from the elements. More from Martín Gómez Arquitectos. Stone and concrete, timber and glass. An imposing facade hides an intimate family home. Punta del Este in Uruguay must be a beautiful place to live.