Holiday At Home

Once an “ugly duckling”, this 1990s home on the NSW Central Coast is now a welcoming family retreat.

- John McDonald

This home on the Central Coast of NSW is beautifully bright and breezy. But it wasn’t always that way. Recalling its previous incarnation, owner Kathryn Garton says the home was “a bit of an ugly duckling”, albeit with plenty of potential for improvement. It was a bland beige-on-beige weatherboard and masonry structure, but the location – backing onto the beach – was so wonderful that she and her husband Ian couldn’t resist. Today, it’s the perfect coastal getaway for the couple, their daughters Andrea, 16, Georgia, 15, and beloved cavalier King Charles spaniel, Charlie.

Kathryn and Ian bought the home in 2014; in 2017, they were ready to renovate and engaged interior designer Stewart Horton of Horton & Co for the project. Stewart had renovated their main residence in Sydney’s west, so the couple had complete faith that Stewart would come up with just the right design and scheme. The project took almost two years to complete, including receiving the necessary council approvals, but the Gartons say it was definitely worth the wait.