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My Home: Melissa Seymour’s beach getaway

Beachmour is the beach sanctuary everyone wishes they had. With amazing views, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, it’s enough to make you drool.

But it wasn’t always this pretty.

When Melissa Seymour, author of ‘Girl’s Guide to Turning Your Idea into a Business’ and wife of former Sydney Swan Brad Seymour, and a friend purchased the 1950’s house six years ago it was out-dated and in need of some major sprucing up.

beachmour1Despite this, its location was idyllic. At Duesburys Beach, New South Wales, the house is just 20 metres from the beach.

Capitalising on its prime spot, the pair spent more than $300,000 converting it into a haven from the hustle and bustle.

“We wanted to set up a holiday destination we could go to that was luxurious,” she said.

“We found travelling in Australia has its limitations when you’re wanting the sort of luxury that you find in Asia and we wanted all those elements in our own beach house.”

The house was gutted and replaced with all new floors and rooms. Small windows were knocked out and replaced with larger windows to allow for better views and extra natural light.

And Seymour was determined to match the plush interiors with perfectly landscaped gardens.

“There’s one hectare of land and we wanted it to be immaculately manicured lawns,” she says.

Beachmour, which has three bedrooms and sleeps 10 people, is set up as a beach house for its owners as well as a holiday rental.

beachmour2 During peak season it demands $595 a night and $395 to $495 in the off-season.

Beachmour may look effortlessly cool, but it took nine months of hard work and staying true to the design goals, says Seymour.

“We put in our fair share of manual labour,” she says.

“I remember being down there with sleeping bags and lots of shovels when we had to pull up the cork floors which were glued down on a layer of cement.

“We also demolished a cement slab outside to make way for a new deck.

“We made a commitment to creating this amazing beach house and we project- managed it pretty well. We didn’t blow out on time or budget.”

In addition to the major renovations, Seymour spent up big on furnishing the holiday home. No expense was spared on plush bedding, LCD televisions, contemporary lighting and lounges.

beachmour3

“It had to be luxury and to do that, it had to be fitted out perfectly,” Seymour says.

“We had to have the best beds which is very important when you stay at a house or a hotel, you want to have a good sleep.”

Seymour says one of her favourite features of Beachmour is the outdoor shower and master bedroom.

“The bedroom is incredibly relaxing and I love walking from the beach to the private outdoor shower,” she says.

And there is definitely an emotional attachment to the property’s gardens.

“I remember being heavily pregnant when my son and I spent a good part of the day planting a row of hedges along the driveway,” Seymour says.

“That was a lot of hard work, but it was a job I wanted to complete with him. I knew we would always see that hedge grow along with the new child.

“Now every time we pull up to the house, my son asks, ‘How’s the hedge?’”.

 

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