Their Rebuilt Byron Bay Beach House Is the "Antipode of Beige"

Located on Australia’s east coast, Byron Bay is full of beautiful beach houses. When Melbourne couple Josh Ackman and Marian Anrys set about rebuilding the modest fibro shack they had owned as a holiday home for around 15 years, they knew exactly what they didn’t want.

"Everything is white. Blindingly white," says Marian of the local vernacular. Instead of fitting in, the couple wanted to preserve the relaxed character of their old-school beach house and create a holiday home—both for their family and to rent out through Airbnb—that felt distinctive.

"When you look at a classic beach house in Byron Bay, for the longest time it’s been very neutral and safe—there’s a lot of sameness," says interior designer Kell Humphreys, founder of Lonesome Studio. "With Josh and Marian, though, there are so many layers to their life experience that the house needed to have layers as well and reflect that."

The aging shack had begun to fall apart, and repairs were becoming increasingly impractical, so the couple asked builder J&E Projects to demolish the home down to its foundations. They then started planning a new four-bedroom home that follows the existing footprint, with a new primary suite that extends into the rear garden.

They also swapped the location of the kitchen and living room, allowing the latter to open out to a generous back deck and the cooking area to open to the street. Throughout the home, high-level dormer windows and skylights draw light deep into the interior.

Rather than hiding behind a high fence or planting, the front garden remains open, and the kitchen faces the street. A sculptural carport, supported by slender columns of galvanized steel, gives the modest house a bold architectural identity, and a salvaged picnic table offers a place to sit.