Beverly Hills, NSW is not Beverly Hills, California. We want to be very clear about that upfront, because The F.A.C. Manor — yes, it has a nameplate above the front door, yes it is named after its owners, no we do not take questions — is operating on a set of references that belong entirely to Beverly Hills, NSW, and Beverly Hills, NSW alone. The exterior is Tudor Gothic revival: half-timbering, diamond-pane leadlight windows, a circular paved driveway, a two-tiered stone fountain in the middle of the front lawn, and wrought iron gates. It is a lot of house. It knows it is a lot of house.
Inside, whoever was briefing the interior designer appears to have communicated their vision primarily through the phrase ‘more.’ The living room features wallpaper that is doing an enormous dark floral pattern in burgundy and gold, and carpet that is doing an enormous bright floral pattern in magenta, pink and gold, and the two patterns exist in the same room simultaneously without either one conceding territory. A crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling, which is the only surface in the room that hasn’t committed to a pattern, and it gives the impression of a referee who arrived too late.
The home office is a separate situation entirely. Striped wallpaper, a vaulted ceiling with exposed timber beams, a carved Chesterfield desk, a heraldic shield mounted above the fireplace, and the same magnificent carpet running through it. There is a small bar built into the corner. This is the room of a man who was running something, and we mean that in the most affectionate possible sense.
The dining room continues the Gothic arch theme through its doorways, adds a cathedral carved buffet of impressive scale, frames the lattice windows in full red velvet swags, and somehow still finds room for the chandelier and the carpet to coexist. The kitchen, mercifully, takes a breath: timber cabinetry, a tray ceiling, lattice windows with vines growing up them from outside, and a brief, tasteful pause before the master bedroom resumes proceedings with a gold baroque bed frame, matching bedside tables, matching ottomans, and one final curtain call from the carpet. Beverly Hills, NSW. Not that one. This one.
