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Holiday Haven: Inside a Grounding North Coast Escape
This family home turned holiday-haven is packed with practical details and elegant entertaining spaces.
Some properties are so special it’s impossible to let them go. The Bliss family home, nestled on five glorious acres on NSW’s North Coast, is one such place. Originally constructed in 1989 by Matt and Catherine Bliss as a place for their four children to grow up, the home grew with the family, eventually becoming a haven for multiple generations to gather.
“Over the past 15 years, we’ve all lived here with our own families at different stages, so it’s really nice to now watch our kids making the same memories we did growing up”, shares Kain, one of the four Bliss siblings. With weddings, family holidays and special events taking place over the years, and more and more memories planted, when it came time to part, no one in the Bliss family was willing to let the property go. Thus, the idea to create a space where others could make the same golden memories was born. Jenn and Kain, two of the Bliss children, and their sister-in-law Lauren, led the project with their experience in building, architecture and design.
On the project, Jenn shares, “That’s what makes it so special. Even through the renovation, there was a real intention from us all to honour that feeling of home, not replace it.”
The project revolved around making the space low-maintenance and grounding, something that would function well as an event space for a variety of occasions, whilst being easy to clean and turn over for guest after guest.
The brief? “To create a holiday home that felt grounding. A place where people could immediately slow down and connect. It needed to function seamlessly for families while still feeling elevated. Rather than leaning into trends, the aim was to create a space that feels calm, timeless and deeply focused on how it’s lived in”, elaborates Jenn.
“Throughout the design process, we constantly imagined how guests would use the space: morning light in the kitchen, afternoons in the sunken lounge, evenings gathering around the table. Every zone was designed with use in mind, not just aesthetics.” — Jenn Bliss
Lauren adds that they wanted to “create something that could maintain itself, so we focused heavily on how it would function behind the scenes, particularly for cleaning and turnovers, making them as efficient as possible. That’s something many holiday properties overlook in the design phase. That meant prioritising durable, low-maintenance finishes and avoiding anything overly complicated. Good design isn’t just about how something looks or photographs; it’s about balancing the guest experience and how the space feels, with how the property performs over hundreds of stays.”
The layout was designed to allow for both connection and privacy within a large group. This evolved into six king bedrooms, each with private en-suites and plenty of communal living areas, our favourite of which include the sunken lounge/conversation pit and expansive outdoor entertaining area.
On the shared spaces Jenn shares, “Throughout the design process, we constantly imagined how guests would use the space: morning light in the kitchen, afternoons in the sunken lounge, evenings gathering around the table. Every zone was designed with use in mind, not just aesthetics.”
With so many memories tied to the physical space, the siblings faced some challenges. “There were some big emotional decisions, like removing the original deck. It held a lot of memories, but once it was gone, it opened up the connection between the house, tennis court and lawn, and improved the overall flow.”
Tough decisions aside, the original footprint of the home was preserved throughout, including the kitchen, the heart of the home. Lauren adds, “The kids’ rumpus is a really good example. It was always a rumpus when we were growing up and a space for all the cousins to hang out, so we wanted to have some fun with it. We designed a bunk with a built in slide for that real kid focus, but included freestanding queen beds at the base so it can still easily adapt to accommodate adults comfortably when needed.”
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The renovation of The Ambers is just another chapter in the Bliss family home’s story — another foundational memory. “Everywhere you look, there are details that each of us has had a hand in and spent hours refining, from the smallest design selections to the more complex structural changes and engineering, right through to the landscaping and the final fit-out of the property for holiday rental. They’re all pieces of the puzzle that the whole family contributed to, and it all came together to make the place what it is. I don’t think any of us could have done it alone”, shares Lauren. “And the fact that after everything, it still feels like home, that was always the most important thing”, Kain adds.
Project Credits
Builder and Architect: Greenbuild Constructions
Co-designers: Lauren Charge & Jenn Bliss
Joinery: Bliss Kitchens & Joinery
Photographer: Nat Spada Photography
Loved touring this beautiful holiday home and looking for more inspo? Have a look at this home, designed to highlight the history of the building, as well as these bold and beautiful holiday apartments.
