The house is called Giget — etched right into the stone facade, in case there was any doubt about the energy being aimed for. It sits on Iluka Road in Palm Beach, one of Sydney’s most valuable strips of sand and money, and it has chosen to spend that postcode on a yellow water slide, two fully stocked bars, and enough brolgas painted across the kitchen walls to constitute a flock. We respect this enormously.
The interior was renovated in a very specific register: Palm Springs, mid-century, the version where Doris Day and Rock Hudson would have thrown a pool party and nobody would have blinked at the decor. Every room has its own wallpaper. Every wallpaper has been chosen with full conviction. The kitchen is hot pink with gold upper cabinets and a green marble island. The dining area curves around a red velvet banquette with a hand-painted brolga mural rising from behind it, floor to ceiling, with the actual Pittwater visible through the window behind. The effect is somewhere between a five-star resort and a fever dream, which the listing correctly identifies as a feature.
There are two bars. The downstairs bar has a pink illuminated front with circular cutouts that glow like a groovy version of a lava lamp, with timber panelling, a sandstone fireplace, and pink rattan chairs. The upstairs bar is a different proposition entirely: banana-leaf wallpaper top to bottom, a full-length marble-topped blue counter with gold bar stools, a complete spirit shelf, and a keg. A keg. In a house. In Palm Beach. We have no notes.
The bedrooms have each been given their own brief and held to it. The master has open-plan ensuite access — no door between the bed and the bathroom — which is either an architectural statement about intimacy or a very efficient use of space, depending on your relationship status and personal thresholds. The blue room has cobalt walls, botanical wallpaper, and the same green carpet that appears in multiple rooms, which we’ve decided is not an oversight but a throughline.
Outside, the yellow water slide descends from the upper level to the lawn. There is a pink surfboard leaning against the stone annexe. The front of the house has pink-and-white candy-stripe awnings and a pair of cacti. The overall impression is that someone has taken the concept of ‘beach house’ and pushed it all the way to its most joyful, saturated, unapologetic conclusion. Pittwater is right there. The brolgas are watching. Giget has fully committed to the bit.
