Inlet House Inverloch: cosy accommodation by the sea

Growing up on a dairy farm in Gippsland, Victoria, Kathleen Murphy didn’t have too many long holidays far from home during her childhood. Instead, the family would bundle into a car and head 25 minutes south to Inverloch, where the river meets the sea.

“Inverloch was always where we took our day trips to – it enabled farm life to continue,” Kathleen explains.

“Robert is originally from Ireland and grew up in the coastal town of Lahinch, County Clare, so we both knew we wanted to retire by the sea,” Kathleen says. “I still have family in the area so Inverloch seemed like the perfect spot.”

But, with house prices on the rise, they didn’t feel like they had time to wait for retirement before making a move. After five years of fruitless hunting, they boldly made an offer on a house that wasn’t yet on the market, and it was accepted.

The late 1960s-era, two-storey house just 10 metres from the beach was in need of TLC, but Kathleen loved the feel of the space, with its sea views, balcony and large windows.

“Home renovations have taken off during COVID, so it was really hard to get tradespeople, but he came to us on Sundays and worked seven days a week, the gorgeous man,” she says.

“Our brief to Belle was to make it attractive so it could bridge all seasons, not just summer, because it is actually lovely in winter,” she explains.

Belle’s answer was a palette of rich, moody colours inspired by the bushland surrounding the beach, creating a cool retreat in summer and a cosy cocoon in winter. While initially Kathleen wasn’t sure about cloaking some of the already dark spaces in deep tones, she trusted the process and gave Belle free rein.

“I think it’s important when you engage a creative person not to stifle them,” she says. “I know that from my business, too, when people get me to design gardens, that you need to be left to do what you do well… She’s done such a good job – it really works.”

Kathleen’s creative eye has also come into play – an op-shop aficionado, she sourced a few second-hand pieces of furniture and collaborated with friend and photographer Marnie Hawson on a collection of artworks for the house.

“I’m planting a tree for each person who stays, and I envisage there’s going to be at least 500 to 600 planted each year,” she says. The goal is to create a wildlife corridor across the farms, creating strips of trees, shrubs and bushes for reptiles, birds and other creatures.

“I believe that you should always make things better than how you found them,” Kathleen explains. “I thought that if I could connect with local farmers and get them to agree to fence off their cattle from the trees, and if I supplied the plants, it would really make a difference over a few years.”

With the home’s refresh now complete and a plan for the future in place, Kathleen is looking forward to spending the summer reliving her childhood holidays with the next generation.

“I love that Inverloch has that combination of the sea and bushland,” she says. “There’s great bushwalking all around, you can take kayaks up through the river, the beaches are safe, which is good for kids, and it’s got great fishing, which I love to do. It’s just really nice to switch off.”