Living the harbour life aquatic: the renovation that comes with its own beach

Compared to this little two bedroom cottage, even Sydney Harbour’s priciest waterfront residence looks terribly ordinary. So terrestrial!

Whereas here is a two-storey houseboat with an unusual gabled roof, absolute 360-degree water frontage and uninterrupted waterline outlook to the neighbourhood of bobbing yachts and situated in the eternally clinking, sapphire-glinting Pearl Bay, Mosman.

Renovated by Sydney’s high-end Infinite Design studio, Mosman Houseboat is the most unusual dwelling contesting the heritage conservation category of this year’s Mosman Design Awards, which will be announced on March 6.

The biannual event showcases and rewards excellence in new and refurbished completions to the North Shore’s built environment, and while there are many spacious and stunning properties in the 2017 mix, Mosman Houseboat is the genuinely charismatic “in your dreams” project. It even has its own private little beach.

“Charming and unique,” says interior designer Michelle Macarounas, who spent a year restoring and spatially opening up what she calls “not a normal houseboat but a genuine house on the water”.

“It doesn’t move and it has all the services, sewerage, electricity and even cable television connected from the land.”

The Mosman Houseboat is surrounded by water views. Photo: Prue Ruscoe

Having been built from the timbers derived from the punt that preceded the first Spit Bridge (circa 1924) and that once ferried products and produce between the harbour shores, and having once been owned by advertising mogul John Singleton, the houseboat – one of four in Pearl Bay, had most recently been the permanent home of a couple who brought up two children there.

When Macarounas gained the commission to open up the dark lower level with the heavy, nautical-referencing kitchen and lounge, and sort out the upper-level master bedroom, ensuite and small study, she made the decision to spend time alone at Pearl Bay “to experience the serenity and to better understand the environment”.

Interior designer Michelle Macarounas spent time alone in Pearl Bay to learn about the environment. Photo: Prue Ruscoe

Along with the heritage onus to respect and restore the old timbers that have long framed windows and formed the kitchen bench, she saw her job as “not adding too many elements that would lose that serenity”.

Apart from a pair of oars, there was to be “no cliche nautical references. It’s very much a heritage cottage”, she says. Although she does find it amusing that the occupants can fish while sitting on the lounge.

“My aim was to open it to light and to pare back the materials to be more simple than it had been”. In her research, Macarounas discovered whole suites of marine-grade materials that she’s beginning to swing into her more conventional jobs. “It was a massive learning curve to understand all the function and facilities of a house on the water”.

The occupants of Mosman Houseboat can fish while sitting on the lounge. Photo: Prue Ruscoe

Since the awards nominations, including a People’s Choice vote, Infinite Design has fielded a number of calls from owners of moving water craft who want her tasteful touch on their boats.

“It might be part of our next stage,” she says. “An interesting deviation on what we’ve been doing.”

www.mosmandesignawards.com.au