MAKING MEMORIES

In a popular pocket on the South Coast of New South Wales, Rachel and Ryan Carr have created a holiday retreat

- STORY REBECCA HOOTON | STYLING KAYLA GEX | PHOTOGRAPHY RACHAEL TAGG

INSIDE STORY Rachel & Ryan's home

Who stays here? Rachel and Ryan Carr of 'The Block' fame, pictured with their children Everleigh, eight (centre), Mila, seven (right), and Tommy, four (left), plus Charlie the family's Cavoodle.

Do you get out here very often? "It's a holiday rental and it's booked up constantly, so we try to block out time to stay. Since our TV show 'Holiday Home Makeover' aired earlier this year, it's been mayhem."

What's your festive style? "Every year we do a different tree theme, but I like to keep things quite traditional when it comes to Christmas. I'm a red, green, gold and silver girl."

What's your favourite feature? "Definitely the Cosentino stone - the kitchen benchtop is five metres long; it's a real showstopper. We also have the stone on the wall in the living room. Everybody walks up to touch it and asks, 'What is it?'"

When Rachel Carr was a child, family holidays to the same spot on the Hawkesbury River were what she looked forward to most. “To be honest, it was run-down, but to us it was Buckingham Palace,” she recalls. “Still to this day, when I think about my childhood, I think about that place down by the river.” Decades later, now living in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, Rachel and her husband Ryan, both 40, dreamed of recreating that magic for their own children, Everleigh, Mila and Tommy. Fresh from their stint on The Block in 2022, they “had the taste” for renovating and decided the time was right to create their own family escape.

The couple set their sights on the South Coast of New South Wales as it was “so accessible and so beautiful” and found their dream property just eight minutes from Berry and five minutes from Seven Mile Beach, offering “the best of both worlds”.