Drift House

October 2015, By Nicole Langelier

When it comes to good pairing, there are a lot fabulous combinations out there: Wine and cheese, dinner and a movie, peanut butter and banana to name a few, but in my opinion there is no better combination than love and design. 

This weekend past was my 4th wedding anniversary, so as a surprise to my husband Tim I dragged him away from his desk at Design & Diplomacy early on Friday and we hit the road to Port Fairy – 3 and a bit hours straight shoot in-land from Melbourne.

We took the long way though this time, a 6-hour drive down the Great Ocean Road. I was, as Tim pointed out, like a little girl (or a dog) with a grin from ear to ear and my head out the window (FYI he was driving). It was amazing, and after nearly 4 years in Australia my first long Great Ocean Road drive.

We drove through many a little beach town – overlooking a spectacular southern ocean paradise before arriving in Port Fairy, and let me tell you, they saved the best for last. Port Fairy was born an old whaling village and is full of little cottages and has a charming main street with a mixture of some fantastic Deco and old bluestone buildings. It also boasts two of the prettiest beaches (summer and winter) I have ever seen and the best luxury bed and breakfast I have ever stayed in.

‘Drift House’ where we stayed is owned by a friend and amazing artist and designer, Colleen and her husband John. They packed up their family and left Melbourne for the country life close to two years ago and have carved out a slice of design bliss in the form of a 4 suite boutique accommodation in their own little slice of heaven in Port Fairy.

Let me start by saying that although I am diplomatic in my approach to design and to working on other people’s homes – there are only two things that I am a self professed snob about – coffee and hotels.  

I don’t mean to be, about either, but outside of Italy I find coffee to be almost always bitter, and wherever I go in the world I always have a very romantic ideal of where we will be staying and my expectations are almost never met.

Only once have my hotel expectations been exceeded and that was this past weekend.

Although we did arrive at Drift House all loved up after a long romantic drive, my reaction to the accommodation was all business – and that included the skipping and the squealing and the opening of all the doors and cupboards and the jumping up and down and the clapping. All of that professionalism continued throughout our stay. It continued when I discovered the pure linen bedding on the worlds most comfortable kind size bed, the big bathtub in the middle of the room, the outdoor fireplace AND the marshmallows to roast in it. It happened when I discovered the assortment of DVD’s and books & novels, the newspapers at our door in the morning and the breakfast basket! Oh the breakfast basket! Farm fresh eggs, bread and milk and baked beans and poached pears and muesli  – Oh my! All of this was to be enjoyed not just in the quaint surrounds of Port Fairy, but in the cutting edge redesign of the original property by Brunswick Architecture firm Multiplicity, and perfectly styled by Colleen herself with quirky unique one of a kind homey little touches – no beat was missed. She rocked it. 10 out of 10.

And in closing the last of my gooey gushy mess is for my husband – the reason we went to Drift House in the first place and, the reason I get up in the morning. Tim Gauci, you complete me. Happy anniversary. Let’s do it all again next year. xxx