ON THE INSIDE
SPACE AND STYLE WORDS LEIGH ROBSHAW PHOTOS ANASTASIA KARIOFYLLIDIS
SIMON LEYSHAN AND Holt Meyers had lived in some beautiful homes in Brisbane, but when they became dads almost five years ago, they craved a tree change. Somewhere fresh, quiet and green, where their daughter Olivia could run free and have lots of pets. “We loved our house but the shutters were always closed because the neighbours were so close,” Simon says. “I said, ‘I want to live somewhere where we can just look through the windows and see the view’.” Late last year, they went for a drive to Dulong and after a scones stopover in Flaxton and a look around Montville, headed to Maleny. They’d never visited the town and were surprised to find a thriving, arty village. When they noticed an ‘open home’ sign, they followed it on a whim. “As soon as we came over the hill and saw the house, it was instant,” Simon says. “We just knew it. There are special moments you remember in your life, and this was one of them. I remember saying to Holt, ‘Oh my god, look at that’. We hadn’t even sold our house in Brisbane and we bought this house five days later at auction.” 100
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They moved into the Hamptons-style country house in North Maleny in October last year and set about redecorating. “It was owned by a doctor from Brisbane who used it as a weekender,” says Simon. “The home I always thought about living in when I had a family was a Queenslander. I like warmth and timber and I like a collected look. I don’t like the minimalist look. I have done that and it suited our lives when we were busy and I wanted something clean and tidy. This feels more family and has a homely feeling. That’s what you get from using timbers and rugs and a bit of texture. Because it’s up in the mountains it has a fireplace and we wanted it to feel cosy, not industrial.” Simon, a personal trainer, has been a stay-at-home dad since he and partner Holt had Olivia through a surrogate mother in America. Holt runs his own IT business with an office in Maleny, leaving Simon to be the stay-at-home dad. Simon’s parents live in their own quarters on the property, so Olivia has plenty of contact with her grandparents. With a little help from his parents, Simon does most of the cleaning, mowing and gardening, taking pride in keeping the 22-acre property looking pristine. Out the back is a lap pool
SALT
3/12/2018 10:28:06 AM
