Who wouldn't want to live in this 'treehouse' in Byron Bay?

Elevated on a hill behind two back-to-back cul-de-sacs, this 1980s home kisses the edge of Arakwal National Park – a conservation area and gloriously verdant rainforest on the far north-east coast of Australia’s New South Wales,. Framed by lush greenery, a path leads to the biscuity stretch of sand that spans from Tallow Beach to Broken Head, where sharks, surfers and dolphins share the waves.

In the coveted coastal enclave of Byron Bay, older beach estates of this size and location are rare. Although within cycling distance of town, the neighbourhood feels worlds away from its gentrifying hustle and bustle. The house only takes up a quarter of the plot, the rest being a wild web of native oversized palms, gums, donkey tail succulents and a ten-storey-high pine tree. There is no noise pollution – just a choir of resident rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras and tawny frogmouths forming the soundtrack to daily life for the young family that calls this ‘treehouse’ home.

Step inside this magical 'treehouse' in Australia's Byron Bay

Only the third owners in about 40 years, they added solar panels and upgraded to lithium-ion batteries. ‘We live off the sun, which affects our lifestyle in a really positive way,’ they say. ‘If it’s raining, you don’t do the laundry; if the weather is beautiful, you don’t use the dryer and can enjoy the day. There’s limited artificial lighting, given the expansive windows, so you live according to the rhythms of the day and night. We’re not hippies or sacrificing our lifestyle by living off-grid, but living this way just creates a more conscious awareness of nature.’

Anchored by a huge, tangerine-toned vintage B&B Italia ‘Camaleonda’ sofa by Mario Bellini, the interiors swim with pieces by Australian creatives, such as emerging ceramicist Zhu Ohmu, Indigenous painter Colin Jones and Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango. The owners adopted a similar design and lifestyle philosophy for The Sunseeker, their nostalgically renovated motel in town. ‘Our approach with both properties has been to maintain the old bones and respect the existing structures, but modernise tastefully. There’s a lot of history there which adds value to new experiences.’

The architectural provenance of the house, originally part of a subdivision, can be attributed to a few local draftspeople and has been designed in a style typical of the time: stilts for cool airflow underneath; louvred windows for natural cross ventilation; timber construction well-suited to the humid, subtropical climate. ‘There are no modern houses in the street and properties are rarely sold, remaining within families who understand the rarity of this unchanged ‘Old Byron’,’ say the homeowners, who have chosen not to have any physical division with their neighbour. ‘Everybody cares deeply about their homes; nobody has knocked down or rebuilt in decades.’

Wrapped by a poinciana tree canopy, the house opens into a kitchen/dining space overlooking a sprawling, sun-dappled living area a few steps down. There’s a mezzanine, and an atrium staircase leads to the children’s domain underneath. A network of decks and walkways envelop the house, overlooking the pool and waterslide, which are a magnet for visitors. Cobblestone paths snake through the garden, winding around a playground, firepit and tennis court. Perfumed with the smell of frangipani and flowering jasmine, the setting is ripe for the bees in the owners’ hives, with the honey bottled up for friends. ‘The house and its location represent everything about community in this town.’