Lucie Clark’s glamorous return to Canberra complete with dream renovation
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Like many born-and-bred Canberrans, Lucie Clark completed university and headed straight for the bright lights of Sydney and the lure of a career in PR, fashion and magazines.
This included gigs at Estee Lauder, Marie Claire, Instyle, GQ, Vogue Living, then Vogue, where she was eventually made associate digital editor.
It was a period of her life where interviewing royals, celebrities and brand founders became second nature.
It was a glamorous existence, punctuated by time living in Singapore with her lawyer husband and the joyous arrival of two daughters.
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But eventually, back in Sydney, the demands began to outweigh the gloss.
Lucie had been thinking for a few years that she did not, in fact, love living in Sydney.
“The traffic, the logistics, the cost, it was super stressful.”
These feelings expanded during COVID, and something was pulling her focus.
Canberra.
“I’d been thinking more and more about how nice it would be to live back where I grew up, my parents are still in Canberra and my brother and his lovely family are here too.”
Lucie and her husband bought the house in lockdown and Lucie worked her magic remotely for much of the renovation.
Marcus grew up between Queensland and Sydney, but he always insisted when they visited how much he loved Canberra.
“My girls had been at the same all-girls private school since they were in prep, I thought they needed a change and also to go to a co-ed school—Canberra Grammar checked all the boxes!”
With Marcus’ firm opening a Canberra office and Lucie working freelance remotely, it was a perfect time to relocate.
Sort of.
Lucie knew she wanted a house in the inner south and while there wasn’t much on the market during the lockdown, they found one for sale in Red Hill which fit the bill.
They drove down for the weekend and Lucie got a quick look to see its potential. She was sold.
“The weekend it was going to auction, we had planned to come down, but travel restrictions were put into place that week (talk about timing…!), so we had to urgently courier down Power of Attorney and other documents to my mum—who as a retired family lawyer is a star negotiator and very cool customer…She bid for us at the very fierce auction and secured it.”
Lucie loves a pastel. The family room is pink.
Then, because Lucie loves a challenge, she took on the mammoth role of completely gutting the run-down residence and transforming it into something worthy of an article in Better Homes and Gardens, which, fittingly is where she is now working as chief sub-editor.
It turned out to be a far bigger task than she imagined.
The formal living room is blue.
“Despite the lovely layout and grand proportions, the laundry was unusable, there was a strange second kitchen in what is now the rumpus room, the back garden was a disaster and the decor was tired and terrifying—brown carpet as far as the eye could see, dark and mouldy brown and beige bathrooms, broken plastic venetian blinds in every room. I could tell it hadn’t been maintained and the house would need a full back-to-studs reno, as well as a full landscape at the back, including putting in a pool,” recalls Lucie.
“I had renovated our house in Sydney but had done it over 10 years, room by room, so I didn’t quite know what to expect in terms of budgeting for a whole house and backyard all at once. And then… as it turned out, the roof, gutters and downpipes were leaking into multiple rooms (which was not in the building report) and so it was even more extensive and expensive than I could have guessed and resulted in us having to replace the roof, gutters, and rebuild walls in multiple rooms.
The Bell dining table by The Wood Room and James Said boucle dining chairs.
Even more stressful was the renovation process began during Covid travel restrictions meaning Lucie was flying blind during much of the early planning phase.
“It was quite tricky, as I couldn’t visit any suppliers, so I ordered samples and made decisions based on a tiny square of material/carpet/flooring. The floorplan produced by the agent didn’t have measurements, so when I was ordering items like the floorboards, I had to guess and hope for the best!”
Meanwhile Lucie entrusted the heavy lifting to Tim Maloney from Tim Maloney Homes who, “came for the laundry and stayed for the whole house,” she jokes.
He pulled out the laundry, the floors, rebuilt the walls (ruined from water damage) and let P&K Joinery do their thing. He would send Lucie constant photos updates and they chatted daily.
Eventually the family got to move in and started the landscaping and pool about a year after purchasing the home with the help of Sean Fox from Luxe Landscapes and ProFlo pools.
Polished brass. Everywhere. And a rose gold Bertazzoni oven.
Given her background, Lucie was confident in her ability to manage all the design choices herself.
“Having done a reno in Sydney, I knew what I wanted this home to look like. I had a look in mind for every space and overall, and then sourced everything to bring those rooms together, from the tiles, floorboards, carpets, rugs, tile grates to the sink wastes, sinks, tapware, hardware, heated towel racks, soft furnishings, and furniture.”
Having been professionally exposed to beautiful interiors over the years she cites Nancy Meyers films (the kitchen in Something’s Gotta Give and Amanda Woods’ house in The Holiday) and travel (particularly hotels in Southern California) among her top inspirations.
All tiles from Tile Cloud.
Did she seek input from the rest of her family?
In a word, no.
“Ha! they just turned up and it was all done! I have a pretty strong aesthetic and so they’ve learnt to leave me to it.”
One sticking point was her husband’s desire for a sauna, for which there was no room.
“He’s still asking when he’s getting the sauna, but I have said we’ve finished our renovations!”
And after all the hard work, decision-making, and creative input, Lucie can now rest.
It meets the requirements of being “a beautiful, liveable home with multiple spaces for our family to enjoy, chill out, and have our friends and family over.”
More importantly, returning to her hometown has been everything Lucie hoped it might be.
All widow furnishings from Blinds, Awnings, Shutters and Curtains.
“I LOVE Canberra, it has ‘grown up’ so much since I grew up here—it always had great food and it’s beautiful, but now it feels like Australia’s best-kept secret! I love the sense of community here and how easy it is, the restaurants and cafes are top-notch, as are all the iconic buildings and events.”
Quick questions
Favourite touches
LED strip sensor lights in the bathroom shower niches—it is the best walking into the bathroom at night and that not-to-bright light turns on.
The oven with rose gold trim—it’s like jewellery for my kitchen. Also, it’s an excellent oven.
Favourite room and why?
The powder room is a fave because I got to do a slew of elements all in one petite room—tongue-and-groove panelling, grasscloth wallpaper, eye-catching tiles, a showstopping mirror, blue vanity!
Any regrets or unexpected surprises?
I wish I’d listened to our very smart builder, Tim, about putting in underfloor heating in the laundry. When we were talking about the laundry I was still in Sydney and I couldn’t imagine how truly cold the early winter mornings are and how much more efficient drying laundry on the hanging rod would have been with the ambient floor heat. We did put underfloor heating in the bathrooms, thank goodness Tim didn’t take no for an answer there!!
How long did it take?
About two years, including landscaping/pool and a break for a few months before we did the last bathroom.
Over or under budget?
Over… cost of supplies went up during and after Covid as did labour. And the roof, plus all the internal rebuilding work we had to do, was expensive and unexpected.
Tips for other renovators?
Find a fantastic builder (like Tim!) who will build everything properly and to last, and is a delight to work with – you’ll be spending a lot of time with them! A good painter and coat of paint can transform a room and it’s an easy and inexpensive way to refresh a space. Invest in custom joinery if you can, it makes a huge difference when it’s made to fit your space, then save on hardware by searching online for your handles etc – there are so many options and lots of excellent Australian suppliers that you can buy from (and save on international freight times and cost).
Etsy is a fantastic source for soft furnishings and décor—it’s unique, often hand-crafted and very reasonably priced.
Finally, have fun! If you love a certain trend or colour, go for it—it’s your home and if you love it, it’ll work!
Favourite parts of Canberra
I play tennis with a gorgeous crew – you can pretty much always find me heading out with a racquet in hand! I’m in a super fun bookclub (called Reading Between the Wines), which I often host at my place or we hit Joe’s Bar for a change of “book club” scene. I walk around my local hood or go up Red Hill most days. My favourite run is along the lake path to the zoo – it amazes me that I can be jogging and see giraffes! I love Pilates at GroundUp in Yarralumla (that view!) and also hit Fitness First for their good mix of classes.
To dine, we love Agostinis and Bambusa for casual dinner and Raku for special occasions. My local, Fox and Bow at the Red Hill shops, is brilliant for hot beverages, brekky and lunch (basically everything!) and we’re at their sister pizza takeaway, Bravo, at least once a week. Also love Muse for brekky…
I go into the Canberra Centre for my shopping fix – Mecca, Haighs, Rebel, DJs, T2… And hit the Fyshwick markets for flowers, fruit, vegies and baked goods, plus the fresh pasta from the Italian deli is a total dream.
