The River House

On A River North Of Sydney, One Couple Created A Home That Is Perfectly In Tune With Time And Tide.

- David Smiedt

Musically speaking, everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Billy Joel has been inspired by the transformative power of a river. Homeowners and industrial designers Belle and Simon were equally entranced by both the melody of the Hawkesbury and the “bit of a shack” they discovered on the river’s edge in 2004. The pair were originally based in Sydney, but a job on the Central Coast saw them searching for somewhere to live that was located between the two that would lessen the commute and provide access to nature. “After renting in the area for a while,” says Belle, “our neighbour told us about a property, which was 10 kilometres up the river and only accessible by water. It was more remote than what we were used to, but we decided to buy a boat and make it work.”

What they bought was a far cry from the architectural beauty you see now – a home the couple enjoy with their three young children Jensen, Pepper and Ollie. “It was falling down and had white ant damage,” says Belle. “It had been neglected for years and needed TLC. We jumped in and started fixing things up here and there. It took six years because we did what we could, when we could.”