Great Dane House has been a passion project for the couple behind the Australian furniture brand of the same name, known for their Scandinavian design pieces.
Founder Anton Assaad was a regular visitor to Point Lonsdale, on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, before coming across the listing for this retro property online during the pandemic. He saw the ‘classic’ elevated beach shack had plenty of potential and visited it in-person the next day — where he immediately fell in love with the home and ‘bought it on the spot’.
‘The location is so unique,’ Anton says. ‘The house is nestled amongst ancient Moonah trees in the sand dunes. It’s about as close to the back beach as you can get, you can hear the waves.’
The renovations were designed to maximise space on the coastal block. Anton says ‘it was quite the project’, but they decided to remove and re-lay 1000 bricks to create a new slab for a ground floor in replace of where the home’s driveway once stood.
‘This room has now become the kids room, with a TV, ping pong table and an Ilse Crawford sofa. A great escape for all four kids to have, that’s separate from upstairs,’ he notes. ‘The house is old and the renovation respects that, it’s full of texture and warmth. We installed a leather wrapped ballustrade we had made by Adam from Mondanest.’
Old plaster walls were replaced with wood-panelling to enhance the property’s retro roots, while the original hardwood floor was also given a rustic, soft look with floor paint from Porter’s Paints. An artist skilfully custom-made the brass benches for the kitchen, which stand out against the glamorous black joinery.
‘For upstairs, we wanted the bathroom to be a retreat. We chose a beautiful Patricia Urquiola bath, sink and mirror from Artedomus. It’s indulgent and you can relax in the tub and look out into the Moonah trees,’ Anton says.
But the inspiration behind the home was to create a place that reflected the family’s love of design through the home’s styling. The soft and layered interiors are the perfect backdrop for their cherished collection of furniture, lighting and objects, including Anton’s favourite prints by an Iranian photographer to many new and vintage pieces from Great Dane. A vintage Bórge Mogensen sofa also provides ‘a pretty special spot’ to read and relax by the fire.
The property has also been listed online as a holiday accomodation, so others can experience the slice of design paradise inside this ‘home-away-from-home’.
‘We are often asked by our clients “what is your home like?”, so I feel it’s a great way for us to share how we live and how we create a home,’ Anton explains.
‘Beyond the house itself, the pure joy of wandering with sandy feet along the untamed beach track leading to a secluded shore is very special. A pre-dinner drink at the local wine bar makes for a pretty good evening too.’
