DREAM HOUSE: HACIENDA dreaming

LEAH HENRICKS REALISED THIS SPANISH-INSPIRED HOUSE WAS EVERYTHING SHE WAS LOOKING FOR THE MINUTE SHE VIEWED IT

- GEORGIE RODGERS

Exterior

'I fell in love with the whole feel of our home,' says Leah. 'The bright-pink exterior and curved wall might seem over the top to some, but I think it pushes design boundaries.'

HOME NOTES

WHO LIVES HERE?

Leah Henricks, her husband Blake, children Grace, 10, and Harvey, eight, and dog Maggie. Leah is an interior designer (leahhenricksinteriors.com @leahhenricksinteriors)

THE PROPERTY

A Fifties bungalow reconfigured into a four-bed modern home in Sydney.

Sometimes you know when you've found the one. That's how Leah Henricks and her husband Blake felt when they first stepped inside their dream home in a beach side suburb of a east Sydney. “There's something about this house that makes you feel relaxed when you walk through the door,' says Leah. We were a young family of four living in a two-bedroom semi and bursting at the seams. We were about to start building from scratch but thought we should take a look at the market to understand what we'd get if we bought instead.' That's when they came across this house, which completely upended their plans. I'm an interior designer, so I never imagined that I would want to buy a home already renovated. However, I absolutely fell in love as soon as I saw it, and so did Blake.'