Luxury getaway on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula
The makeover of this beachside holiday home filled with childhood memories brought modern luxuries and Mediterranean flair.
Home cinemas are getting increasingly hi-tech, with 3D display, 4K high definition, generative AI algorithms (don’t ask me). But the one in our third-floor master bedroom is resolutely no-tech. In fact, I’m forced to climb out of bed and draw back the curtains across the sea spray-smudged screen myself. But when I do – my god – this sunrise premiere is a blockbuster.
Floor to ceiling windows frame foamy waves breaking on the beach below. Point Lonsdale lighthouse winks at cargo ships negotiating the treacherous entrance to Port Phillip Bay. Thick clumps of cloud blanket Bass Strait, glowing cellophane orange. And across the narrow channel Point Nepean floats on the serrated sea like a toothbrush. While the cinematography is undoubtedly Oscar-worthy, I’d caution against popcorn around the French linen.
Sagres, a five-bedroom holiday home in Queenscliff, is named after the parish in Portugal, the most southwesterly point in continental Europe, and once considered the edge of the known world. Queenscliff is likewise end of the line, last stop on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, south-east of Geelong. Lined with grand, ornate buildings, it was the place to be seen during Victoria’s gold boom of the 1880s, when the well-heeled arrived by paddle steamer or steam train to weekend at their waterfront mansions. Today, the handsome, historic streetscape remains preserved, a happy accident of halted development after the advent of the motor car, and weekenders are lured back by wineries, farm gates and the enduring appeal of the seaside.
Sagres was the childhood holiday home of Jo Youl, and was built in the early 1990s by her mother. Renowned residential architect Wayne Gillespie worked wonders within the confines of a narrow block, conjuring a sense of spaciousness, partly by eschewing windows on the side of the house (which would only look on to neighbours), to instead direct the gaze across the endless sea.
With its blocky profile and jaunty, pitched roof, the family nicknamed Sagres “the doll’s house”. At other angles it resembles a classic Melbourne boatshed – albeit with Hollywood pretensions – rearing above the sand dunes of Nuns Beach, which is accessed by a private track from the backyard. “My childhood memories are of boogie-boarding on that beach,” says Jo. “It’s such a special place.”
But years pass, kids grow up and priorities change. Fast forward 30 years and the doll’s house was gathering dust in the attic. “I didn’t want it to be sold,” Jo says, “so I told mum I’d fix it up for others to enjoy.”
Jo did have renovation experience, having revamped a slew of boutique rentals on Flinders Island (where she lives), under her On Island Time label. But Sagres was a bigger beast. Last year’s makeover brought modern luxuries and Mediterranean flair to the tired-looking beach house.
Guests enter via a grand driveway lined with olive trees and agapanthus, interspersed with natives. A pool is going in to the front yard and will be ready by summer. Ground level has three bedrooms, one bathroom and a rumpus, while two king bedrooms with ensuites score the top-level views. Luxe touches include organic cotton, Turkish-made bath and beach towels by Youl’s own Quoin label, linen by Carlotta + Gee, and Australian-made bathroom products by Leif. Interior designer Emily Fitzgerald helped craft a breezy seaside mood for the middle-level living area. Carpet was replaced with pale floorboards, walls were painted the requisite white, and furniture re-covered in warm, textural fabrics. A centrepiece of seashells punctuates a 10-seater dining table, and a sun-kissed mural by Nobby Seymour (a ’90s original) complements equally vivid modern artworks arranged around a gas fireplace, marble coffee table and lounges buried under an avalanche of cushions. Oversized planter boxes stuffed with succulents on the sunny deck hint at the Amalfi Coast. I feel like I should pour myself an Aperol spritz.
The supremely functional kitchen boasts a Thermomix, a top-of-the-line La Marzocco espresso machine and an old-school soda stream. Not yet being initiated into the Thermomix cult, we buy fresh fish fillets in town, crumb and fry them on the gas cook top. Don’t feel like cooking? Pre-order gourmet pies, or wallaby bolognaise by On Island Time chef Josh McMahon (ex-Three Blue Ducks).
Snug as we are at Sagres, the beauty of the Bellarine draws us outside. Bella E-Bike Hire delivers us electric bikes, and we make a leisurely loop of Queenscliff, where day-trippers are alighting the ferry from Sorrento, before joining the Bellarine Rail Trail, which shadows the historic railway line 35 scenic kilometres to Geelong.
We replenish lost calories at Bellarine Estate winery, making admirable inroads into a Texan-style barbecue lunch, with succulent beef briskets smoked for 10 hours in an old CFA fire tank, glazed ribs and lamb rumps rubbed with lemon myrtle and saltbush. Their cool climate shiraz is a fine example of the lighter, southern Victorian sub-genre.
Back at Sagres, a beach stroll beckons. As daylight fades we watch two youngsters in wetsuits wrestle boogie boards in the surf, their mum looking on. Characters might move on, but some scenes will never get old.
TO-DO LIST
Dine
Arrive hungry for an authentic Texan barbecue lunch atBellarine Estateaccompanied by cool climate wines. Have dinner at Tommy Gunns, a new French-Mediterranean bistro in a cottage in Barwon Heads.
Do
Hire an e-bike and ride the Bellarine Rail Trail, or take the coastal route from Portarlington to St Leonards. Get pampered at Lon Spa; a private mineral retreat for two includes a massage, facial, body scrub, mineral bath and grazing platter with a bottle of local sparkling.
Browse
Go treasure hunting at Vintage & Collectables on Hesse in Queenscliff, or peruse Kiitos in Barwon Heads for Japanese-accented homewares, clothing, jewellery and gifts.
ESSENTIALS
Sagres Queenscliff is 90 minutes by road from Melbourne and sleeps up to 10 guests; from $1400 a night (minimum two nights). Beach towels and boogie boards are provided, plus a welcome bottle of wine and breakfast essentials. Available from October.
Ricky French was a guest of Sagres Queenscliff and Visit Victoria.
visitvictoria.com
