University of the Sunshine Coast vice-chancellor Helen Bartlett’s light and luxurious Qld home
Working in major European and Asian cities taught this academic key lessons in living light and minimalist, but a return to sunny Queensland demands a few luxuries.
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To say Helen Bartlett left Victoria for Queensland because of the pandemic would be unfair – the timing was purely coincidental.
The recently appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Sunshine Coast had just been announced to take over the role in February 2020 as the coronavirus took hold across the world.
Little did she know at the time that in a matter of weeks she would effectively be managing two universities through the biggest disruption to operations in modern history.
“It was a bit of a shock,” Professor Bartlett said.
“I thought, wow, I’ve got to manage the situation in the university I was in, putting in place everything all universities were doing, such as going to online learning, looking at our finances, worrying about international students and all of those things.
“I was doing all of that when I’m thinking about the next step and liaising with everybody here who were also dealing with the same thing. So, I felt like my head was in two spaces.”
At the time, Professor Bartlett and husband Keith had been living in Ballarat due to her job as Vice Chancellor of Federation University in Victoria.
Having moved from continent to continent over the years due to her research on ageing, the Bartletts knew they wanted to return to Queensland at some point.
After living through the southern state’s first lengthy lockdown, they were fortunate enough to escape before NSW closed its border ahead of a second wave of infections and a lockdown. Due to Queensland’s strict border rules, they were forced to stay in NSW for two weeks before crossing into the Sunshine State, where the hard border closed behind them.
They purchased the home on the canals of the Sunshine Coast’s Twin Waters in November 2020, after the initial contract fell through.
It was a blessing, given the pandemic boom was about to take off and the market was already beginning to become competitive.
Because Professor Bartlett was getting settled into her new role, Mr Bartlett was given the position as head of renovations.
There was nothing wrong with the home but it was dated, with large tiles inset with thick grouting, a corner spa bath in the ensuite and a backyard full of astroturf and timber that had seen better days.
“Houses are about flow and the floor plan and fortunately, when we bought this, it had the bones structurally,” said Mr Bartlett, a retired lawyer.
“Having said that, it’s not speaking to the outside area and the swimming pool area, which had a total makeover.”
All were replaced in clean warm wood and white coastal styling, taking a little longer than expected given shortages in some materials and lost shipments of whitegoods.
The entry of the home overlooks a formal sitting room looking over the pool area, with a hallway wrapping around to the open-plan entertaining space.
The kitchen faces the large rear doors and captures a picturesque view of the sunset over the water each evening.
The couple were originally from the UK and have lived in Perth, Hong Kong, London, Malaysia and several times each in Queensland and Victoria throughout their careers.
If anything, it taught them to live light and is the reason they live a pretty minimalist lifestyle.
“We are fairly neutral minimalist yet,” Professor Bartlett said. “So we don’t go for a lot of colour but we like to have paintings that give you focus.
“I’m not one for lots of trinkets.”
Now that they are settled into life on the coast, changes are being made.
The couple are considering getting a dog to keep them company, while Professor Bartlett is overseeing the transition to digital lectures and mixed-format learning on-campus and online.
They have settled into a good routine, walking from the home to the beach, cycling around the region, enjoying the views of the sunset over the water from their living room and back deck and are even looking to get a couple of kayaks to launch off of their pontoon.
Originally published as University of the Sunshine Coast vice-chancellor Helen Bartlett’s light and luxurious Qld home
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