This Sydney home owes its casual air and Hamptons-style elegance to a savvy owner and an intuitive interiors guru.

This family home in Sydney's eastern suburbs achieves an admirable balance between formal Georgian-style architecture and laid-back ambience. Despite its grand size, the five-bedroom property reads as a series of intimate, comfortable spaces. The result is a fresh and breezy home that uses the vernacular of the US East Coast to enhance a very Australian indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

The house was built in the 1930s, and its gracious form captivated the present owner when she spied it in 2007. She quickly realised its potential as a home for herself, her husband and their growing family – three daughters now four, six, and eight.

An admirer of homes in the New England region of the US, and in particular the Hamptons, the owner put together a file of design ideas on that theme. “The light and bright spaces, the white-painted timber-panelled walls, wide stained-oak floors and the American take on modern English country have great appeal to me,” she says.

Architect Peter Hurley of Lawton Hurley and building company Trico Constructions brought these ideas to fruition in an ambitious renovation project. “We were able to comfortably extend the house and develop a lower storey as it sits on a huge block,” the owner says. Two bedrooms, several bathrooms and multiple living spaces were added, plus an outdoor room with weathered timber floors, wet bar and ceiling heaters for year-round entertaining.

The divine new kitchen, which has become the design focus of the house, actually had its origins on the silver screen. “I saw Something's Gotta Give and really wanted the kitchen in that movie. The cabinetmaker thought I was crazy for wanting exposed hinges, cup handles and utility latches, which are very American,” says the owner.

Although confident in her own style, the owner turned to interior designer Lynda Kerry to achieve the polished yet comfortable effect she had in mind. Lynda put together colour boards for each room, so they could visualise the fabrics, drapery, soft furnishings and other elements working together, then sourced many of the elements, including fabrics and lighting, from the US.

“Hamptons style is a classic decorating look that I've always known and understood,” says the American-born, Sydney-based Lynda. “So this home was a designer's dream come true for me.”

Architect: Lawton Hurley, Surry Hills, NSW; (02) 9360 5300. Builder: Trico Constructions, Sydney, NSW. Interior designer: Lynda Kerry Interior Design, Double Bay, NSW; (02) 9327 3085.

Family friendly

There is plenty of play space in this idyllic family property. “We wanted an area where the kids could ride their scooters, and with a pool they could enjoy,” says the owner. “We didn't realise how big the yard was until we started clearing away undergrowth.” Inside, a multiplicity of living and functional spaces cater to pastimes for everyone in the family, from the book-lined library to the home theatre.

This is the life

Rich in natural materials and subtle weathered details, the Hamptons look is luxurious but never too perfect. “I knew I needed casual, natural fabrics like matt laces, batiks, faded florals and washed linens,” says interior designer Lynda Kerry. American oak floorboards are bevelled to give them an aged look, while the timber boards in the outdoor room were left outside to weather before being laid down. The overall effect encourages a sense of relaxed living.

Decorating team

Lynda Kerry says the interior was “was a team effort”, as she and the owner realised the final decorating concept. “I put together colour boards for each room so that we could visualise the fabrics, drapery and soft furnishings all working together. The living room in the movie Something's Gotta Give had the most amazing kilim rug in shades of faded blue. We started with that as the basic idea for the kitchen/dining/family room and reinvented a new look with fabrics for sofa and throw cushions.”