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O'Connor-Cowley house

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Type:		Residential
Year:		2003
Location:		Brisbane

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Elizabeth O'Connor-Cowleys' love of collecting "modern classics" is evident from the moment you step inside her spacious five-bedroom Queenslander home.

She and husband Phillip Cowley, who own children's fashion and accessories business "eeni meeni mini moh" , designed their Brisbane property four years ago.

"The house that was on this block was old and partly demolished and didn't have a lot of character left," recalls Elizabeth. "But it was also just three kilometres from the city in a quiet residential area with lots of established trees. "I liked the idea of living in a house with the feel of a Queenslander but without all the fussy bits," she explains.

"So we had a draftsman draw up our plans and then the house took about 10 months to build. It seemed like a long time, but I guess you can't build a house of this size quickly."

By retaining traditional Queenslander features such as high ceilings, tongue-and-groove walls and large verandas, Elizabeth and Philip utilised a classic design, Security grills on windows, for example, run horizontally instead of vertically. "We wanted to address security issues, but didn't want to feel like we were living in a jail," says Elizabeth.

In the large, open-plan kitchen, the couple continued the modern classic theme. "I designed the fridge myself because 1 really liked the clean, industrial look in the kitchen," she says. "The central storage island is on wheels, so if we are entertaining on the deck it can just be loaded up with food and wheeled out."
Berkshire White walls by Dulux, both in the main kitchen/lounge area and throughout the house, provided a perfect canvas for Elizabeth, a part-time artist, to hang her work. "The picture rails have proved to be very functional because it means we can move the artwork around without having to put holes in the walls," explains Elizabeth. "We've also included a number of plasterboard feature walls throughout the house." With the downstairs office acting as headquarters for the family business, storage was a big issue for the couple. "Traditionally, Queenslanders don't have much storage, but I'm the sort of person who likes everything to have a home," Elizabeth says. "So we put built-in wardrobes in each of the bedrooms and along the back wall of the office we have a storage unit that runs the length and breadth."

Classic spotted gum floorboards in a matt finish ru throughout the house, and a period claw-foot bath w found for the main bathroom. "It actually came from one of the homesteads on a property owned by Philip family. Collecting modern classics is a bit of a fetish o mine," admits Elizabeth.

"The taps in both the bathrooms and the kitchen were designed by one of my favourite architects, Arne Jacobsen, for Vola." Nature envelopes the home's expansive deck. "We used a woven steel wire instead of timber balustrade so it didn't obscure the view," Elizabeth says.

Looking out across a sea of flowering jacaranda the contented creator says there's nothing she would change about her home. "I just love living here."