Essentially English and Romantic

Photography by Tony Potter
Styling by Amy Howker

Story by Nerida Piggin

The perfect proportions of this Darling Point house in Sydney are complemented by exquisite furniture and fabrics, resulting in an attractive and comfortable 21st-century family home.

Melbourne former model and artist Fiona Handbury is a passionate collector of fine antique furniture and decorative fabrics – especially those from England and Europe. She has a trio of grown-up children and runs three substantial houses in different parts of the world. Her Sydney home is of a particular type that's about as close to perfection as you could find. It's grand but not unnervingly so, and was built in a classical-revival style designed by distinguished Melbourne architect Wayne Gillespie, who's known mostly for his classic high-ceilings, generous-size square rooms and floor-to-ceiling doors.

Fiona decided to move from a much larger house to a smaller one, and once she started looking she viewed a lot of different properties. "One of the first I saw was this little place in Greenoaks Avenue, Darling Point," she says. "It was certainly much smaller than the one in which we'd been living, but the children were going overseas to school and university, or working, and I felt I still wanted a spacious family home for them to come back to. Of course, I also needed somewhere big enough to accommodate all my possessions – like my antique furniture and masses of curtains."

According to Fiona, Wayne's designs rarely included skirtings and cornices, so she had them installed in each room to make the finish more classical and to keep it sympathetic with her style of art and furniture. "The original home, which was built during the 1920s, was totally demolished," she reveals, "and Wayne Gillespie built the house for his mother who came to live in Sydney." One of the main attractions was the wide Georgian-looking entrance hall, typical of large English country houses and homes in Toorak, Melbourne. "I was brought up in a big house in Toorak, but as my parents were quite radical for their day, it was contemporary in style," she says.

A gracious staircase, with a large landing above, leads to the bedrooms, which all have ensuites done out in luxurious pink Venetian marble. "Wayne certainly understood family houses," Fiona says. "He always considered lots of storage options, large garages, luxurious bathrooms and even basements." One of the other great attractions was the wide verandah, which wraps around the house overlooking a swimming pool and giving access to each upstairs bedroom.

"I painted the rooms in the same colours I used for my last house, because the hues matched my curtains and the fabrics I already had," she says. "Amazingly enough, most of it fit in very well." Among her favourite items is her collection of porcelain and china, sourced mostly from her family and her travels – especially from time spent in London. "Whenever I move, I seem to take all the things I love with me," she says, "so the next house instantly becomes a home containing familiar items I adore and cherish."

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