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No expense spared at East Coast retreat
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RICK Bzowy’s in his element in more ways than one. He’s talking about interior design and some of the finer touches of the building we stand in. This building, not too far south of Swansea, is The Lair, Mr Bzowy’s $2.5 million baby.
The sea-changing Melbourne architect knows every nook of the building because he has created his dream accommodation from scratch. He even took a handmade model along to the Glamorgan-Spring Bay Councilmeeting that approved it.‘‘I made the models of the building by
hand — I made hundreds of models before I started,’’ he said. ‘‘I did all the drawings by hand, I’ve been on-site working right next to the builder and now I’m managing it. ‘‘It’s been my daily grind for four years. It’s been fantastic.’’ (Writer tries to think of a way of introducing the next quote without using the word ‘‘passion’’, but fails and decides to let the eloquent Mr Bzowy continue telling his story.) ‘‘I always envied the fact that artists had total control in making something by hand, whether it be a three-dimensional sculpture or a two-dimensional portrait and in contemporary times it’s very difficult for an architect to do that.’’ It’s a warm Saturday afternoon with occasional cloud and the more we talk about the interior, the more the exterior tries to muscle in on the conversation. The view is a bit like a pet who knows she is the most beautiful animal in creation and can’t bear to have a moment without people adoring her. Just as Mr Bzowy is describing the Austrian baked acacia floorboards, a blast of sunshine out to sea illuminates Isle de Phoques, known locally as White Rock for reasons that become apparent at times like this. It’s The Lair saying, ‘‘look at my view’’. So we pause and look. To the front, White Rock shines at us; to our right, Maria Island looms; to our left, the craggy lines of the Hazards ease into Mount Freycinet before skipping the passage to Schouten Island. The Lair is high. Mr Bzowy has taken his design several hundred metres up the hill from the Tasman Highway so the view really does deserve acclaim. And we notice the felicitous vista because the opulent self-contained accommodation that we stand in has been designed to embrace and emphasise it. The southern edge of the balcony is 40 metres from the northern edge. There are two bedrooms, one at either end. The Lair occupies 450 square metres of the property’s 17 hectares. ‘‘Our intention is to offer the highest standard of luxury in a private domain. Tasmania is developing some fabulous facilities like Moorilla and Saffire . . . what we wanted to do was take that standard of luxury in a private setting,’’ Mr Bzowy said. ‘‘We don’t want to be it. We want to be part of it.’’ When we arrive, the breeze is filtering through the vast living space. You couldn’t underplay it by calling it a room because Mr Bzowy has opened up the accordion doors at front and behind. You are somehow inside and outside at the same time. ‘‘I’m a cool-climate person,’’ he said, by way of explanation for the billowing ‘‘wind scoop’’. Mr Bzowy has a Polish heritage, but cut his architectural teeth on major projects around Australia, among them some of this country’s first wave pools. As we look around, the uber-luxury is everywhere. A 64-jet spa from Canada, a three-sided glass slow-combustion woodheater from France, Villeroy and Boch crockery, a $45,000 Italian lounge suite. At 3.6 metres, the back door is so tall that you expect it to be opened by a chap called Igor. ‘‘Visitors, master.’’ It’s after marvelling at the king-sized beds, stoneware baths and the pop-down television screen and admiring art work by Sally Dark and Jonathan Kimberley that we turn to the kitchen’s many possibilities. There are dozens of condiments that guests are welcome to use and any request for fresh produce is met. Every detail of The Lair is breathtaking. Ripples on the ceiling are a metaphor for tide markings on a beach; a kitchen drawer reveals 14 different phone chargers for guests who have misplaced theirs; the coffee table carries a bound volume of three months of The Mercury newspaper from 1868. But the freezer holds an insight into Mr Bzowy’s sense of humour and his sense of the practical. Here, in a house that has the world’s finest everything, a place where guests can request in advance fresh crayfish or scallops or lamb backstrap, is a packet of fish fingers. ‘‘You’ve got to be prepared to laugh at yourself,’’ he said. ■ ABOUT THE LAIR Two-bedroom property sleeping four. 10 minutes south of Swansea. Prices from $1100 a night for a two-night stay. See www.thelair.com.au
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