Cool, Calm Country

Designer Collette Dinnigan swapped city lights for Australian country cool in her simply styled farmhouse that echoes its stunning surroundings

- Fiona McCarthy

Two years ago, after returning from a year-long family sabbatical living la dolce vita in the heart of Rome,

Australian fashion designer Collette Dinnigan was immediately drawn to the contrast of big skies and rolling hills of the Southern Highlands town of Avoca, about a two-hour drive southwest of Sydney. The move meant her daughter, Estella, a keen equestrian, could go to school nearby without having to board and, along with her husband, Bradley, and their son, Hunter, family life could centre around the calm of the New South Wales countryside rather than the bright lights of the city.

In search of a place where they could live, work and entertain, as well as keep dogs, horses and chickens, Collette immediately spotted the potential of this particular old farmhouse as she ventured up its half-kilometre drive, lined with blossoming pear trees. ‘It had the most incredible views, surrounded by beautiful bush, native animals such as kangaroos and wombats, a lake and stables,’ she says. ‘It had almost everything we wanted except for the style I like,’ says the designer, who closed her fashion business in 2013 in favour of interior projects, such as designing the penthouse suites for Bannisters by the Sea, a coastal hotel south of Sydney, and her own properties including a new masseria (country house) in Puglia.