Homes

A Retro Templestowe Rental, Complete With An Indoor Pool!

The home of Carrissa Leary, owner of mid-century furniture business Hendrix and Willow, is everything we love in a rental property: personality-filled, ever-evolving, and styled with the most amazing vintage furniture!

Carrissa moved into this Templestowe property (16 kilometres north-east of Melbourne’s CBD) with her two children in 2020. The family have fully embraced the home’s original ‘80s bones, introducing more retro pieces to match the glass chandeliers, coloured tapware, and warm timber joinery. The indoor pool is just the cherry on top!

Written
by
Lucy Feagins
Supported by Dulux

Matador print by Lee Burr. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

The ’80s timber kitchen! Vintage Danish bar stools by TH Brown. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Carrissa Leary in her Templestowe home. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Vintage ceramic tigers Carrissa sourced on a trip to Adelaide. Vintage ’70s glass genie bottles. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Mid-century Ramler dining table and chairs sourced from a seller in Perth. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Vintage 1970s Murano glass chandelier. Vintage prints by J.H Lynch. Copper top table and matching chairs bought secondhand. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Retro details. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Wool rug from Flokati. Featherston Numero modular sofa from Tangerine and Teal. Aquarius coffee table by TH Brown. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Vintage ceramic panther and ’70s pottery base lamp. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

1970s artwork by an unknown artist and sourced from the U.S. Mongolian sheep wool cushions from Spotlight. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Tripod planters and plants from Aumann’s Nursery. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Vintage 1970s Namco chair. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Italian-made ceramic tiger from House Of Leopard. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Vintage pottery. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Carrissa’s curated abode is filled with second-hand gems from the ’70s, including this mid-century teak wall unit. Trinkets found online. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Macrame wall hanging from @concrete_swan. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

The AMAZING indoor pool isn’t something you see everyday in Melbourne’s middle suburbs! Vintage ’70s bamboo sun lounge in original gold velveteen. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files. Editorial styling – Annie Portelli

Writer
Lucy Feagins
25th of May 2022

Carrissa Leary, owner of mid-century furniture business Hendrix and Willow, loves what she does — just look at her Templestowe home! ‘My passion for all things mid-century doesn’t stop when I leave work,’ she says. ‘I actually love what I do so much that it flows through into my home.’ 

Carrissa moved into this rental property with her children Indianah (10) and Saxxon (6) in 2020. Melbourne was in lockdown at the time, so the family were only able to view the property online, but fortunately Carrissa’s instincts were spot on. ‘This home was most certainly built with family in mind, with a parent’s room at one end, two bedrooms at the other, and a games room complete with a built-in bar,’ she says. Unbelievably, the home also features a heated in-ground pool!

Templestowe’s wide and leafy streets have also become a sanctuary for the family, especially over the past two years. ‘It feels like I’m coming home to the country every day’ Carrissa says.

Carrissa’s style is completely in keeping with the original ‘80s design of the property, only she’s taken it to another level! What was once an entirely white, brown and grey space is now drenched in 1970s colours, injected via vintage pieces sourced far and wide. ‘Most of what you see in my home has been found online, given to me or I’ve stumbled across it on one of our many trips interstate to find unique retro furniture,’ Carrissa says. 

Among Carrissa’s favourite pieces are the Featherston Numero modular lounge (‘Its clean lines combined with the bright fuchsia coloured upholstery just makes the room pop’) and shag wool rugs in almost every room. ‘They are my number one go to when it comes to adding that cosy feel to a room’. 

This vibrant, character-filled home is a testament to Carrissa’s incredible sense of style – and proves just what is possible when it comes to personalising a rental property!

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