Dream becomes a reality for Gina and Stuart Crabb at Bronte Beach

A light-filled design combined the best of home and holiday for Gina and Stuart Crabb at Bronte Beach.

Stuart and Gina Crabb in their architect-designed house in Bronte Beach. Picture: Nikki Short

During their time living overseas, Gina and Stuart Crabb would often glance at a large, framed photo of Bronte Beach that hung on their wall. It was a reminder of everything they were working so hard for: the beachside Sydney suburb dream home they would one day live in.

That same image now hangs in the five-bedroom architect-designed house, just a few minutes’ walk from the stretch of sand depicted in it.

The couple were living at Gladesville, on Sydney’s lower north shore, when Mr Crabb’s job at healthcare product and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson took them overseas when their eldest daughter was a baby. Over the next 10 years they lived the expat life in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London. When they returned home for holidays at Christmas, they would rent a house at Bronte to get a taste of life in the eastern suburbs.

“We originally wanted to have a house in Drummoyne and a holiday house by the beach, then we thought, ‘why not combine the house into one?’” Mr Crabb says. “We fell in love with the Bondi to Bronte walk and had a lot of picnics at the park.”

Entertaining areas were a priority and the kitchen includes a 5m-long island bench. Picture: Nikki Short

They bought a three-bedroom Federation-style house sight unseen and decided to knock it down and rebuild, spending two years working with architect Nick Bell to design the perfect light-filled family home that would see their children through their teenage years. Ms Crabb acted as project manager for the build.

As both the Crabbs have large extended families and love entertaining, the kitchen was always going to be the focal point of the open-plan downstairs living area. They incorporated a 5m-long marble island bench so they could interact with the kids and guests while cooking.

Mr Crabb, who is now vice-president of sales APAC & Canada for alcohol company Constellation Brands, has also hosted wine dinners for clients, enlisting the help of outside caterers.

“They loved the kitchen,” he says. Two mini-wine fridges in the butler’s pantry were included in the original design, and they have added a 180-bottle wine fridge in the garage.

Until recently there was no TV in the main living room, also to encourage family interaction, but they relented during the COVID-19 lockdown and now have a Samsung picture-frame TV mounted above the gas fireplace on the feature wall, built using bricks from the original house. Full-length windows and sliding doors look out into the backyard. “The kids use the pool a lot and there’s just enough space for a cricket pitch too,” Mr Crabb says.

“I love the way the indoor entertaining area flows outside to the barbecue area. The kitchen, living area and dining room are all combined, so you can do everything in one room. In one section, you can basically entertain in four different areas.”

Reminders of their time spent abroad are dotted throughout the house. Picture: Nikki Short

A Bowers & Wilkins speaker system and karaoke machine Ms Crabb won at a charity event are also a hit at parties.

Reminders of their time spent abroad are dotted throughout. They include an abstract drawing of a woman bought from artist Joanna Brendon, who was their next-door neighbour in London; a bronze horse statue bought during a holiday in China, and vintage bookend figurines depicting a couple from Malaysia on their wedding day. A print by Archibald-prize-winning artist Fred Cress, which was given to Ms Crabb’s late father, jazz musician Chuck Morgan, after he performed at his birthday party, also hangs in the corridor.

A large dot painting called Bingi (Turtle) Journey by Indigenous artist Phil Collins has pride of place at the top of the stairs. It was bought at a hinterland market during a holiday to Byron Bay because they fell in love with the story behind it of turtles always returning home, just as they did.