dream your perfect house. make it a kahuna bay beach house...

living by the sea

The history of the beach house is traced back to the 1st Century according to Australian Beach Houses by Phillip Drew (one of our favourite beach house books). 

Apparently villae marittimae known as marine villas to us were the basis of an architectural experiment. 

In the 19th century the notion of a beach house started to develop into what it is today with the period of Romanticism. 

During the Depression many people moved onto the beach as it was cheap.  They used ordinary materials to build their houses and "depression" furniture (one of our favourite things to collect from 2nd hand shops and paint white!)

The original beach house residents were unpretentious and didn't really care about being rich or a fancy lifestyle...  It was all about the enjoyment of the beach and the happy lifestyle of living by the sea.

Once living beside the beach was a place to go when you retired... but that is so over now.  Anything goes. 

The idea of creating a beach house atmosphere is happening in places all over the world... and even not near the sea. People have fallen in love with the idea of a beach house...the idea of relaxation, fun, happiness, simplicity and joy of shared experiences...

When your at the beach, you get in touch with yourself.  You experience more moments of simple joy like squishing sand in your toes or watching a sunset. This is all about a simple, less hectic lifestyle, not just about the way we decorate our homes.

We love Phillip Drew's words... the casual disorder found in most beach houses paints a picture of the Australian soul...

don't dream.  create. we want to inspire you to disorder your life. simple is better. start with one room at a time and your way of living will start to shift like the tide...