This is the life Pam’s homewares shop, Saltwater Trading, is just a short distance from her Blairgowrie beach house, but she commutes back to Melbourne at the end of each day to be with her family. However, on the weekends it’s back to the beach house with family and friends. “I love having people over for Sunday lunch – a casual barbecue on the deck that often lasts into the evening when we all watch the lights on the bay,” says Pam.
Australian stylePam McLaren’s Blairgowrie beach house is decorated with a typically Australian coastal vibe. She used a palette of soft grey, blues and greens against the natural warm tones of rustic timber and stone. “It’s very contemporary, relaxing and casual, yet sophisticated at the same time,” says Pam. Weathered trunks or boxes double as side tables and baskets as storage containers holding collections of shells or fishing floats.
Comfy furniture, sun-bleached hues and beachcomber accessories capture the essence of easy seaside living in this home overlooking Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay.
The entrance to Pam and Campbell McLaren’s beach house is unassuming, via a set of stairs leading up from the garage. But as you reach the top step you’re assailed by a truly marvellous panorama, from the boats moored at the Blairgowrie Yacht Club to the skyscrapers of Melbourne in the far distance across Port Phillip Bay.
“We’ve had the house for 13 years now and still love that view,” says Pam.
The beach house is their special retreat from the rigors of busy working lives. Pam opened a homewares store, Saltwater Trading, in Sorrento almost three years ago, when the right location in Melbourne’s inner suburbs eluded her. “We had the new store designed by architect Gary Catt and while he was doing that we asked him to look at adding a retreat area to the beach house for our two boys, 19-year-old Wes and Lachy, who is 17,” says Pam.
The home, built in the early ’90s, was ready for an update. “The floors were pink marble and the boomerang-shaped kitchen island benchtop was black granite, which was fashionable at the time it was built, but not my style at all.”
Gary’s solution was to replace the marble floors with grey ironbark timber combined with wool carpet in the sunken living room. “Changing the flooring lifted the whole atmosphere of the living area to one of ease and comfort,” says Pam.
The redesign of the kitchen included an over-size island bench that is wrapped in buff-coloured reconstituted stone and inset with a cooktop and sink. The large bench, which takes up formerly unused space, is handy for laying out large serving platters when entertaining as well as for plating up family meals.
Outside, the pool borders the angled windows of the living room and divides the newly extended deck area into separate outdoor dining and sitting zones. This is the setting for many a summer barbecue, but even when it’s just the two of them Pam and Campbell love to spend evenings here watching the sun set over the horizon. After all, one of the greatest pleasures of living in this beach house is taking in the view.
Story Judy Ostergaard Styling Jo McComiskey Photography Gorta Yuuki