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Owners Amanda Shadforth and Sam Williams chose low-maintenance plants for their garden, including palms and hardy cacti. Landscape architect Mon Palmer helped them bring the garden to life. -
The living room is a carefully considered mix of designer items – such as the Mario Bellini coffee table – and vintage finds, like the 1920s armchair that Amanda had reupholstered in velour. -
Amanda loves nature and organic forms – timber, stone, ceramics, glass. -
Amanda sells a range of artworks and screen-printed T-shirts via her business, OF by Amanda Shadforth. -
“I'm drawn to graphic and simplistic work, and my own art fits within this genre,” she says. -
The mirror, which has travelled with the couple from home to home, refracts the morning light from its edges to create prisms around the room. -
A Freedom sculpture, a vintage vase and one of Amanda’s artworks are displayed on a console near the front door. -
A calming and minimalist vibe ensures that the master bedroom is a retreat. -
An iconic LCW chair by Charles and Ray Eames and an Hermès throw create a cosy corner in the bedroom. -
Both Amanda and her husband are keen surfers, as evidenced by the Haydenshapes for Alexander Wang surfboard displayed in their home. -
Amanda and Sam can check the surf while in the bathtub, or through the shower louvres. -
The pool is the most recent addition to the garden.
WORDS Sarah Tarcal PRODUCTION Kristin Rawson PHOTOS Julie Adams, aremediasyndication.com.au/magazinefeatures.co.za
There’s a relaxed Palm Springs vibe to this chic and airy, restored Australian seaside home that is the perfect backdrop for its owners’ creative impulses and love of surfing.
Artist, photographer and creative director Amanda Shadforth wears many hats. But perhaps her most recognisable is that of the founder of Oracle Fox, one of the original Australian style websites. It’s no surprise, then, that the South Queensland home she shares with her husband Sam Williams and their two dogs, Peaches the Pomeranian and Zion the Finnish Lapphund, is a perfect study in modern, minimalist style.
The 1970s home was purchased four years ago, and she and Sam spent six months renovating before they moved in. “We were drawn to the home because it had a mid-century, almost Palm Springs vibe, with high ceilings and beautiful views,” Amanda says. But its favourable qualities stopped there: the building had become decrepit over the years and was un-liveable when they purchased it – so they had plenty of work to do. Fortunately, Amanda had her builder dad Tony to call on to bring her vision for the house to life.
“I was brought up on a farm, so I love nature and organic forms – timber, stone, ceramics, linen and glass,” she says. “We removed several walls and tore up the carpets, allowing the concrete floors to become a feature.” This helped the home embrace seaside living and an indoor-outdoor feel, with tons of natural light and an ocean breeze that flows through the space. The other upside of concrete floors? No sandy carpets. “My husband and I both surf and are used to walking around with sandy feet, so we didn’t want to be worried about the flooring being too precious,” she explains.
The interiors are, unsurprisingly, meticulous, with a pared-back feel and thoughtfully placed pieces of art – many of them Amanda’s own. For that Palm Springs effect, Amanda sourced furniture with a mid-century feel and mixed up materials, aiming for a combo of opulent and understated. The couple’s bedroom, by way of example, features a gilded mirror, timber bed, silk pendant and simple sheer curtains. There’s a playful element too, with vignettes of unexpected items and display objects – like the brass shark jaws and granite boulder – that make one pause.
“I have a secret obsession with interiors, so it’s difficult not to put my stamp on things,” she says. That “stamp” mixes European-style decor with pieces befitting of a relaxed Australian lifestyle. “I try to listen to my instincts, and not to fit into a certain style or trend, but to create my own vision. We collect things as we go, and slowly the style forms itself.”
Like all great artworks – and great wardrobes – Amanda’s style is definitely still evolving. “I feel like this house is still quite empty, and there are many more pieces that I’d like to buy…”
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