Live in Byron's famous Soma wellness retreat year-round
Build it, and they will come could very well have been the mantra whispered into the ear of meditation teacher Gary Gorrow, who, having moved to Byron, found a lack of wellness retreats in the shire.
“I decided I’d create my own sanctuary,” he recalls.
He built a modern 10-bedroom residence and a separate yoga dome surrounded by forest and views, from where he ran retreats based on Vedic meditation and mindfulness. It was spectacular enough to be chosen as the location for the hit TV mini-series Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman.
It didn’t happen overnight, though. It took Gorrow two years to find his own field of dreams: an 8.59-hectare block nestled in the Byron Hinterland 10 kilometres from the beach at Ewingsdale. “As soon as I set foot on the land, I knew this was the right place,” he says.
Originally a dairy farm, the property has served as a place of healing for a Vietnam veteran, a nursery and a hobby farm. It is planted with hundreds of different botanical species, including more than 50 types of bamboo.
A believer in the healing power of the land, Gorrow was drawn to its natural beauty and energy. Moreover, the property was relatively level (for Byron), allowing visitors to “journey through it”, with sunset views across rolling hills. It also had a spring-fed dam, a 250-year-old fig tree, and eucalypts with koalas.
“I want people to feel like they’re immersed in a special environment they can interact with,” he says of the property he named Soma, a Sanskrit word with many meanings, including “elixir of life”.
Gorrow also had the good fortune his older brother George Gorrow, an award-winning international multidisciplinary designer, was keen to help realise his sibling’s dream.
George had worked on resorts, retreats and hotels, including his own Sea Sea Surf Club, as well as brand and graphic design.
With Balinese-based architect Rieky Sunur, he settled on a mix of styles: principally Brazilian modernism, which blends warm minimalist and tropical architecture (something honed over a decade living and working in Bali), with a touch of brutalism.
This meant long, clean lines, grand openings, natural materials and textures, as well as a strong connection between indoors and out, assisted by huge spans of glass across both floors.
It also makes for quite an entry: wide polished steps ferry guests past an off-form concrete brick wall and a becalming water feature under “floating” cedar battens screening the upper floor. Immediately through the massive pivot glass door, they are welcomed by a six-metre void above the atrium and lounge.
“It was all about creating good energy and flow, while harnessing the light and views,” says George.
Interestingly, the house unintentionally conforms to vastu shastra, a Hindu system of architecture that embraces Vedic philosophy while promoting happiness. “I wanted the natural world to speak to it,” says Gary.
George also designed the interiors, including furniture, starting with a seven-metre suar wood dining table with “natural edge”, fittings and soft furnishings, featuring hand-woven fabrics, rattan finishes and Moroccan rugs – all of which can be bought with the property. Materials like oak, teak and sand-infused concrete added “golden warmth”.
“The interiors contrast and soften the building’s hard lines, so it feels earthy, grounded and inclusive,” explains George. “That barefootedness.”
Beyond the open living-dining area, which overlooks the deck, pool and sunken fire pit, is a commercial kitchen. Three bedrooms are downstairs, and eight more, each with an en suite bathroom, are upstairs.
The design is purposefully modular – what Gary describes as “house-meets-retreat” – enabling the property to function as a wellness business, family home or something in between.
“The layout is flexible, so can be easily reconfigured as a contemporary residence,” says Sotheby’s agent Will Phillips.
As a beacon for wellness and peace, the property offers a suite of other attractions: hardwood-clad shelters lined with marine ply by the dam, filled with lotus flowers; tree hammocks and a hanging bed in the ancient fig; and garden sculptures.
There’s also a second “little Soma”, the original house nearby, which George completely overhauled, adding three more bedrooms to the retreat.
Most eye-catching, though, is the transparent geodesic dome for yoga and meditation, cocooned in a bamboo forest. This dome, which had star billing in Nine Perfect Strangers, Gary says, “speaks to the home.”
It’s also one of several elements Gary helped to design, including treatment rooms, a fire pit and a Zen garden, another of the property’s mindfulness features.
“People just start dropping down a bunch of gears as soon as they step foot on the property,” says Gary.
We recommend
We thought you might like
States
Capital Cities
Capital Cities - Rentals
Popular Areas
Allhomes
More
