A timber sign outside Margot and Stuart Phegan's property at One Mile says, in Japanese, "Effort".
It took much planning and a team effort to transform the original residence into the Japanese-themed, resort-style showpiece it is today.
Beautifully proportioned, finished and furnished, the home is welcoming in all seasons.
In the warmer months, the impressive alfresco and pool area beckons. In winter, Margot and Stuart are drawn to the living zone that has, at its centre, a fireplace wrapped in Silver Galaxy Marble, quarried in Turkey and with a striking symmetrical pattern.
The vision for a contemporary Japanese interior was Margot's. A former travel agent and event organiser, she first fell in love with Japan during a skiing holiday to Niseko 15 years ago. She appreciates its culture and aesthetics and practises the Japanese art of flower arranging called Ikebana.
When the couple, who had holidayed at their Nelson Bay cottage for 20 years, decided a few years ago to move to Port Stephens from Sydney to live, the One Mile property offered the blank canvas they sought.
"We bought the house to renovate and rebuild," Margot says.
"We loved the aspect of its north-facing yard, the privacy, the acre block, the proximity to the beach and the area.
"We even get koalas here."
The comprehensive renovation added a parents' retreat, which has a huge dressing room and a shower and bath with a garden view through floor-to-ceiling windows.
The kitchen and dining area was extended and the adjacent outdoor area given a major facelift. Now, an expansive angled roof, in aluminium, protects alfresco diners and a new, freshwater pool sparkles amid extensive tiling and landscaping, including mature cabbage tree palms.
Roof tiles were replaced with Colorbond and floor tiles with engineered oak. New windows were installed and the exterior rendered. Hardly a stone was left unturned during the project.
Margot's vision was translated into exhaustive interior design plans by Sydney company Studio Minosa. Her early choice of the wide tongue and groove oak floorboards was a starting point for Minosa's many selections of material types and tones.
A trademark of the Minosa design is continuity. For example, the same terrazzo floor tiles and large grey and terracotta wall tiles feature in all three bathrooms, Silver Galaxy marble also tops the kitchen's standout island bench and bathroom vanities, and Polytec European walnut trim ties together joinery in the kitchen with built-in storage throughout the house.
Shoji sliding doors are another subtle nod by Minosa to Japanese design.
Most of the decor has been sourced by Margot on her travels and from her go-to suppliers: Apato Furniture in Melbourne; Edo Arts in Sydney; and Japanache on the Gold Coast. Japanese and mid-century furniture works wonderfully together in the One Mile home.
A Japanese walnut coffee table in the lounge room has compartments that are cleverly accessed via sliding panels, and a Buddha welcomes visitors from his custom-made wall recess facing the front door. Textiles used as wall art include fabric from a trip to Bhutan, hung in the living area, and a haori, or traditional Japanese jacket, displayed in a guest bedroom.
From design stage to completion, the renovation took two years. According to Margot and Stuart, who conveniently stayed in their holiday house for the construction phase, the process was largely "zen", due to the professionalism and co-operation of the various tradespeople they used.
Nelson Bay Building and Construction and Nadin West Joinery both won Master Builders Association Awards this year for their work on the One Mile reinvention. The Phegans also acknowledge Octopus Garden Design for planning the impressive outside spaces.
John Mudie, owner of Nelson Bay Building, says the project had its complexities but progressed smoothly.
"All the new parts of the house and the pool are sitting on turpentine piers punched six metres deep because of the sandy, swampy ground," John says. "The renovation required a lot of thinking and precise execution but it was very rewarding to see the end product."
Margot, who jokes she kept the workers happy with home-cooked treats, rates the kitchen, with its integrated appliances, butler's pantry and tropical outlook, as particularly special.
"The heart of the home is the kitchen and I do a lot of cooking, so to look out at this aspect, over the alfresco area to the pool, is lovely," she says.
Stuart, a risk management consultant, says the privacy and sound of the ocean are priceless and he loves everything about the house.
It is, indeed, a winning mix of class, character and comfort.
