Stickybeak of the Week: A Mornington Peninsula Pool House
This stunning entertainment zone was built to accommodate parties, barbecues and overnight guests in style
When you live somewhere people love to come and visit, and you like to entertain, what better solution than a pool house with an outdoor kitchen that doubles as the guest quarters? The team at Acorn Garden Houses designed, built and styled this pool house for a social couple and their children to entertain their friends without infringing on the peace or privacy of anyone in the main house.
Pool House at a Glance
Who it belongs to: Amanda, her husband, and their three children (13, 18 and 20)
Location: Mount Martha, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Budget: $150,000
Size: Pool house comprising a great room, bathroom and outdoor kitchen
Pool House at a Glance
Who it belongs to: Amanda, her husband, and their three children (13, 18 and 20)
Location: Mount Martha, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Budget: $150,000
Size: Pool house comprising a great room, bathroom and outdoor kitchen
Being able to gather with friends outside at any time of year drove the pool house’s design. “We love the space for entertaining by the pool,” Amanda says.
The Mornington Peninsula is the perfect weekend getaway for Melbournians in need of some seaside relaxation – Mount Martha is just 60 kilometres south-east of Melbourne’s CBD. With its sofa bed and sofa, bathroom and outdoor kitchen, the pool house is a comfortable and welcoming place for guests to call home during their visit.
Sofa: Red Fox Run
Sofa: Red Fox Run
This stunning outdoor kitchen is a winner largely because of those knockout tiles. “We chose handmade ‘fishscale’ tiles for the splashback for the wow factor, and a vintage copper range hood, which we had modified as the extraction fan,” says Acorn Garden Houses director Steve Magliano. The barbecue is built into an Italian Pietra Serena limestone benchtop, and Magliano designed and built the cabinetry using solid Victorian ash.
Barbecue: Electrolux; tiles: Academy Tiles
Barbecue: Electrolux; tiles: Academy Tiles
Magliano and his team found the recycled copper range hood at a demolition yard – retro fitting it was the biggest challenge of the project. The goal was to get high-volume air extraction while retaining its old-fashioned good looks – a task they assigned to a commercial range hood manufacturer.
The pool house serves as an attractive backdrop for anyone lazing by the pool.
Exterior paint: Dulux ‘Monument‘
Exterior paint: Dulux ‘Monument‘
A fully integrated wireless music system inside and out is well used when the children have their friends over for parties. Their parents can enjoy relative peace and quiet in the main house, though, because of the distance between it and the detached pool house.
The large-format TV and open space means the ‘great room’ can work as a cinema space when required.
The floor – Wide American Oak – is just the thing to accommodate wet feet in summer, but getting the colour right proved to be another challenge. “We made up five or six sample boards for consideration,” Magliano says. In the end, they decided on a grey wash with a matt timber finish.
The bi-fold doors off the great room opens up the pool house to the deck and pool. The wide-format (132mm x 32mm) teak decking boards have hidden fixings and are finished with Cutek CD50 protection oil to protect them from the elements.
Decking: Woodform Architectural
Decking: Woodform Architectural
The subway tiles, washstand basin and lining boards in the bathroom give it a country feel. “The space is kept modern by the walk-in shower, large-format floor tiles and white walls,” Magliano says.
Mirror: Red Fox Run; Vanity: Recollections
Mirror: Red Fox Run; Vanity: Recollections