Home Stories: Nick Parkinson

Posted on 6 December, 2019

In this week’s instalment of Home Stories, Ashley Feraude visits the Reid ‘bachelor pad’ of hospitality maestro Nick Parkinson of Hopscotch, Young & Frisky, and Flash Burgers.

Nick’s Parkinson’ sister Kate told me that I’d love his bachelor pad. At the time I didn’t’ realise she was joshing with me, so Cass and I arrived at Nick’s home in Reid expecting a swinging ‘70s love den complete with lava lamps, spinning beds and a martini bar.

The exact opposite was true, and to tell the truth, I was left with a weird mixture of excitement and disappointment. Also, I instantly regretted wearing flares and a pointy-collared gold shirt.

Nick is a chef first and a business owner second, responsible for Hopscotch, Young & Frisky and Flash Burgers.

I say he is a chef first because everything stems from Nick’s love of cooking and entertaining. He started off pretending to be sick at school just to spend extra time with the chefs of his mum’s Australian Pizza Kitchen.

From there, Nick quickly moved into working in restaurants, eventually becoming Head Chef at Parlour and Elk & Pea.

After a short break overseas doing what any young guy would do in London, Nick returned to Canberra to spark an idea with his sister and her partner Brian. That idea was Hopscotch.

At the time, opening a large capacity casual craft food and beverage venue was considered a bold move, but it quickly became a Canberra institution.

My rapidly expanding waistline can be fairly attributed to their burgers and my inability to refuse another IPA.

Just like his food career, Nick’s journey to achieve his home also took a long time and a lot of work.

“I’ve always wanted to live in this area,” says Nick, of the inner-city suburb of Reid. “It’s quite sentimental but I grew up here, my parents and family live close by, and I really love the heritage of these homes.”

Nick purchased the house three years ago from a couple who had lived there since the 1930s. The house needed a lot of love and care—everything from fixing foundations, redoing plumbing and wiring, right through to rendering, painting and flooring.

All up, it took two years and myriad challenges that the mere mention of it prompts a nervous eye twitch from Nick.

The home’s foundation had sunk due to the mixture of tree roots and soft soil, so to lift it, the space under the house was injected with resin. In front of his eyes, the house came alive like a scene from Poltergeist—it was raised up, gaps in walls closed and uneven surfaces filled out.

“There were some tense moments as we really had to ensure the heritage components were kept safe, but it was all so worth it, it really feels 100% like my home.”

So, what is Nick’s recipe for a stunning space? Well, keeping things simple, adding art or objects as points of visual interest, making sure that things you love take centre stage, arranging spaces so they are super quick to clean, and getting rid of anything that you don’t use in three months.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from successful restaurateurs, it’s that your product has to be consistent—and Nick has certainly applied this rule throughout his home. I know my earlier pun about the recipe was lame, but apt.

Every room is uncluttered, has a focal piece of art on the walls, you can run a vacuum through the space freely, and both the kitchen and music room are the main spaces in the house. If there was an equivalent of chef’s hat for interior design, I think Nick should get one.

Considering Nick’s life passion, it makes a lot of sense that his kitchen is as amazing as it is, but I had no idea Nick was a muso too. I guess making music is as creative as cooking—songs are indeed like recipes and we can make or lose friends by getting it either just right or terribly wrong.

Perhaps Kate wasn’t actually joshing about Nick’s home being a bachelor pad and it’s just my retro preconception that got it all wrong. Rather than ‘70s bling, we got a calm, stylish house in which the owner can reach your heart through the stomach and the ears. Perhaps this is the ‘00s bach pad? If it is, ‘swoon on’, I say.