6 minute read
GARDENS
GardensGardens
SUE WALLACE
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Living sanctuaries The garden has come into its own as a vital extension of the home in these testing times, with even purists embracing the idea of the indooroutdoor ‘room’
GGardens have been the big winners during the COVID-19 lockdown, as many home dwellers turned their skills to creating pretty–– green havens and flourishing vegetable plots while dishing out plenty of tender loving care. Those who once couldn’t tell a petunia from a peony or a marigold from a Monks Hood have found gardening websites and books to nurture their virgin green thumbs and turn them into devotees. At Bunnings Garden Centres, often swamped by wannabe G gardeners, vegetable and flower seedlings became almost as scarce as loo paper at the height of the pandemic. The result is a gardening resurgence, prettier flower beds and bountiful vegie gardens. Victoria-based garden design celebrity Paul Bangay, whose property Stonefields, located between Kyneton and Daylesford, showcases his talents, says he has noticed a huge increase in interest in gardening. “People have fallen in love with their gardens all over again, if they were not before,” he says. “I think it’s due to the fact we may now not be travelling overseas for a while, or indeed interstate. To
Opposite: Victoria-based garden designer Paul Bangay Right: Interior designer Thomas Hamel
surround yourself by beauty in your garden is as good as sitting by a beach in Greece.”
Bangay has seen his Instagram account numbers spike to more than 74,300 during the past months, a development he attributes to people having more time to be inspired about gardening.
“We have noticed a huge increase in followers, especially after posting small videos on the garden at Stonefields. I am sure that, like me, many people were stuck at home constantly looking at Instagram in the search for new and exciting content.”
Bangay says he believes many of those new to gardening discovered its joys during isolation.
“Peace and calmness come from gardening, and during this intense period of anxiety this has been invaluable to many,” he says. “I have heard many times how much joy gardens have been to people. I know in my garden I have taken to the vegetable plots and find this incredibly relaxing. Just nurturing plants and being able to touch them and the soil, whether it is on a small balcony or 20ha, derives the same response.”
Another spin-off from spending more time at home is the increased interest in creating indoor/outdoor rooms in which nature stars. Celebrated Sydney-based interior designer Thomas Hamel has long been a strong advocate for indoor/outdoor living, which he says suits the Australian climate and lifestyle.
“With the current post-COVID need to spend more time at home, these additional outdoor rooms are godsends for those who are lucky enough to already have such spaces,” he says.
“The current mandate for entertaining small groups outside adds to the appeal, and I think interior design for the outdoors will become more and more popular.”
American-born Hamel says that in Sydney the harbour can often dictate the architectural design and room layout, and with such commanding views, outdoor spaces that take advantage of this asset can be just as important as the indoor ones.
“In Melbourne, where there is an absence of water views, gardens play a key role, and outdoor terraces and verandas become important living spaces from which to fully enjoy the outdoor garden settings,” he says. “In cities like Brisbane, people can spend as much time in their outdoor rooms as in an indoor formal living area, such is their year-round temperate climate and more casual way of living and entertaining.”
Outdoor firepits and fireplaces also play a key role in enjoying entertaining areas year-round, according to Hamel.
“For many years I have said that Australia has led the way around the world in this design trend, while places like California and warmer parts of the US only later emulated it. In Australia, outdoor living is truly part of our DNA.”
Hamel advises that designing a natural flow from the indoors to outdoors through wide or concertinaed doorways is important, but he also likes to create interior spaces outdoors.
“The increased popularity of and demand for these outdoor rooms – now more than ever as we shelter and work from home –has seen a flow-on demand for such products as outdoor fabrics and outdoor rugs, lighting and furnishings. The selection and choice today are quite impressive.”
Bangay, who has not always been a fan of the indoor-outdoor room concept, concedes it is a way of getting people into the garden.
“For a long time I was sceptical of the outdoor room or extension to the house syndrome,” he says. “Being a purist and a plant and garden lover, I felt the outdoor room was diluting peoples’ interest in the garden itself. By adding full kitchens, TV’s and fireplaces, it just didn’t feel like a garden space to me.
“I have now come to realise that anything that lures people into the garden is a good thing.”
His designs often locate these rooms a small distance from the house so as to immerse people in the garden.
Bangay is pleased that more people are discovering the joys of gardening. His advice for novices discovering the delights of flowerpower is encapsulated in his well-used mantra: keep it simple.
CHRIS WARNE
Master negotiator
A L E G E N D I N P R E S T I G E P R O P E R T Y C I R C L E S , O N E A G E N T H A S C A R V E D OUT AN EXTRAORDINARY CAREER
Bill Malouf, is a specialist when it comes to Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Consistently setting new sales records, he is the market leader in selling waterfront properties and prestige holdings, and believes in telling clients how it really is. He has been LJ Hooker’s top sales person globally 19 times since the mid 1980s and in 2006 entered the company’s Hall of Fame.
Knowing that success comes from listening rather than talking, Malouf has a clear understanding of the economy-driven fluctuations affecting the market.
“Not only do you learn more about what the client wants and what buyers are looking for, but also what the market place is saying,” he says.
That’s never been more relevant than during this unprecedented time.
“There is no doubt there will probably be an adjustment in the market place due to COVID-19,” he says.
It’s his passion for water that has largely driven his greatest successes in real estate — properties on Sydney Harbour’s waterfront.
“Any free time I may get throughout the year, I love to spend on or close to the water,” he says.
The family man is proud of his unbeatable track record in selling prestige property.
Selling more than $45 million of real estate from 1991 to 1992 — at a time when the property market was in one of its biggest downturns — Malouf’s career highlights include selling the Bang & Olufsen house for the highest price achieved for a waterfront home at the time ($24 million); securing the national price record ($29 million) for a single home, a Point Piper harbourfront mansion; the off-market sale of a Point Piper waterfront property for $40 million; and the recent sale of Potts Point clifftop mansion, Bomera, for $34 million. Q
