Photography: Lucia Braham
When you renovate a holiday home, there’s always a risk that you’ll love it enough to make it your permanent address. It’s a nice problem to have, discovered Daniela Tippett, the owner of this modern farm in Exeter – on the lands of the Gundungurra and Dharawal people – in the NSW Southern Highlands. “When we finished the project, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I think we could just live here full-time,’” she recalls. “Maybe in a few years, when our boys leave home.”
Named Kerloch, the home is set on a hill among eight halcyon hectares, at the end of a long driveway off a remote country lane. At night, the landscape is shrouded in darkness. Daniela, her husband Aaron and sons Ayden, 14, and Ashton, 12, delight in all the stars they can’t see from their main home in Sydney’s bustling Eastern Suburbs.
“I feel relaxed the moment I drive up the driveway,” says Daniela, founder and director of Casabela Interiors, an interior design and property styling studio. “We’re always so busy in Sydney. We come here to reconnect – not just with the land, but with each other. Often on holidays you get that urge to go out and explore, but we usually just stay here and enjoy the house, and go for walks.”
Having owned an apartment further south in Jervis Bay, Daniela and Aaron coveted a spacious weekender that was closer to the city and could accommodate more friends and family. “The Southern Highlands ticked all the boxes,” says Daniela. As did Kerloch, which had been in the Arnott’s biscuits family for decades. “They hosted weddings and birthday parties there… I think it was quite emotional for them when they parted with the house,” says Daniela.
We come here to reconnect – not just with the land, but with each other.
Daniela Tippett, Owner/Designer
“As soon as we walked onto this property, we fell in love with it, too. The house had beautiful bones and the landscape was lovely.” Two hectares of eucalyptus trees that attract a bevy of butterflies helped seal the deal. “It’s like a butterfly farm,” Daniela says, laughing.
With some tweaks to the floor plan and tasteful cosmetic updates – the home had last been redesigned in 1991 by architect Andre Porebski – Daniela knew she could transform Kerloch into a sophisticated farmhouse. “There were terracotta-coloured floors and a lot of brickwork and timber, which felt very red and bright to me,” she explains. “I wanted to play down the colours and let the outside speak for the house. I kept all the windows and doors so that wherever you go in the house, you see lovely views of the hills.”
Stay at Kerloch Estate
This lavish farmhouse known as Kerloch Estate is available to book for your next Southern Highlands escape via Airbnb. The Exeter home accommodates up to 14 guests in six bedrooms and features a swimming pool and tennis court.
In the main dwelling, with the help of architecture firm Place Studio, Daniela converted a superfluous music room into a fourth bedroom with an ensuite. The kitchen was opened up to flow easily to a lounge and dining space on
one side, and a formal living room on the other, which leads to a conservatory and bar. Daniela turned a poky storeroom and laundry into a user-friendly butler’s pantry.
In the guesthouse, a stone’s throw from the pool, Daniela installed a second bedroom and kitchen. “My kids are a bit older now; they go to the guesthouse with their friends, while the adults relax in the main house,” she says.
‘The home’s “very Tuscan” exterior was refreshed with Porter’s Paints Popcorn, and a new outdoor kitchen features a pizza oven made of recycled bricks and polished concrete. “Aaron is a pizza fanatic,” says Daniela. “We love hosting a late lunch or early dinner on the terrace, sipping champagne and watching the sun set. It’s my favourite time of day.”
The tennis court and pool were resurfaced – joined by a new cabana – making Kerloch a mecca for teenagers. “The boys have space to run around,” says Daniela. “I’m getting them dirt bikes and putting in a basketball hoop, as well.” Meanwhile, the garden came with a vegetable patch and a fragrant rose garden. “I’d love to grow fruit trees down the track,” adds Daniela.
The renovation was finished in about eight months, but the work never stops. “I want to keep evolving the property,” says Daniela. “In the future, we may add some glamping pods to offer more accommodation. I’m designing a big shed at the moment, too, with a kitchen and bathroom, so we can host large dinner parties and use the outdoors a bit more. It would also be nice to open that space to yoga or health retreats.”
For now, Kerloch is available to guests via platforms such as Airbnb. Whether they make the tree change to Exeter (officially), or continue to share Kerloch with holiday-makers, Daniela and Aaron will always be proud custodians of the idyllic estate. “It’s a place that we want to keep in the family for generations, hopefully,” says Daniela.
Visit casabela.com.au and placestudio.com.au
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