The Divine Maggies

In Andrew and Trevor’s property “Maggies at Trentham,” what reads like history on the outside blossoms with imagination within. The regal Victorian home neighbours St Mary Magdalen Catholic Parish Church and was dedicated to the local priest by the archbishop of Melbourne in 1906. Three years ago, the property was metamorphosed by interior designers Andrew Danckert and Trevor Salmon - the result has blossomed into a carnival of wonder.

Built in the late 19th century, Maggies was originally commissioned over one hundred years ago for the local parish Priest, who serviced not only Trentham, but also Kyneton and the surrounds. These days, the interior offers accommodation for up to eight guests in four bedrooms that dissolve the stately posture of faith with a quirky aesthetic that foregrounds fun.

Both Trevor and Andrew have collaboratively worked in design for eight years, with Trevor designing in the advertising world, and Andrew as a celebrated florist. Together, they began working on landscape design and organically continued their creative practice indoors, “The inside goes outside and the outside goes inside, this crossover interests us,” explains Trevor.

As you enter Maggies at Trentham, the corridor is lined with a 19th century Yixing teapot that sits across from a Victorian oil painting. “Each room has been themed to a look or a colour,” explains Trevor, as he guides us down a corridor - each door, from floral fireworks to a black and white Hollywood throwback, as surprising as the last. “We wanted it to be more eclectic than granny’s old house. People tell us they spend the weekend looking at everything and it’s supposed to have that effect - to feel like an experience.”

In the living room, the New York philharmonic orchestra thunders triumphantly in a room that champions luxury and evokes the design work of Alidad, an inspiration “renowned for opulent, elegant yet supremely comfortable interiors. His bespoke work is unique while blending a wide spectrum of luxury materials with timeless restraint. We had this painting in storage, it was used in theatre as a stage setting,” gesturing to the leaves painted on the tree, “so we just fit everything around it,” waving to the branches that lean against the painted tree, an effortless arrangement that naturally brings the decor to life.

“Eclectic is an overused term, we enjoy putting different things together, ceramic against a particular fabric, layering materials.” As we walk from room to room, it’s as though we become lost in time, with spaces presenting a collage of history’s stylistic movements that span the Renaissance, Baroque and Hollywood. “Mixing antique with contemporary, different eras, different craftsmanship. Current generations aren’t antique driven but everything is cyclical. It will come back around.”

While admiring the delicate glass leaves of Murano chandeliers, “We like designing in this area because people leave the city and decide that they want a place like this to be their home, so we like to offer something special.”

In Maggies at Trentham, Trevor and Andrew have distilled their fantasy into a series of bedrooms and brought our dream of escape, inside.

Maggies at Trentham maggiesattrentham.com trevor@andrewathome.com.au 0419 872 078