How Rebecca Harding and Andy Lee designed a holiday home that’s both a sanctuary and an entertainer’s paradise
It’s been a whirlwind few years for Rebecca Harding and Andy Lee.
The newlyweds have juggled the renovation of a 150-year-old Melbourne property with work and planning their recent star-studded wedding in New York, so their Mornington Peninsula beach house has been a welcome sanctuary.
Rebecca Harding enjoys styling the dining table even for casual meals. Sheridan
The couple designed their holiday home to reflect the coastal nature surrounding it while also feeling “calm and welcoming”. They completed renovations on the property two years ago.
“We really wanted to bring the outside in and just create a really beautiful, calm space,” Harding, who has opened up her home for Sheridan’s At Home With… series, told nine.com.au in an exclusive interview.
She and Lee often spend weekends at the St Andrews beach home and move there for the summer holidays, along with their family. The addition of nieces and nephews over the years required more renovations on the property, including small bedrooms, wings and a larger kitchen, making it a total of four renovations all up.
“The house has grown with our family, which has been really nice, so we've done little bits here and there,” she said.
The living, dining and outdoor areas are perfect for entertaining both family and friends so the couple often host gatherings at the beach house.
“I love cooking, so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and we’ve also got a pizza oven and a big outdoor kitchen setup, which we get a lot of use out of,” she said.
The living, dining and kitchen area features earthy tones and textures to reflect the outdoors. Sheridan
“Over summer our favourite thing to do down there is entertain, and so we’re constantly hosting long lunches and dinner parties, and whether it’s family with all of our nieces and nephews running around or friends we do a lot of summer entertaining down there.
“And in winter, we love having, maybe not as many people, but we'll put a beautiful fire on, and a few red wines in front of the fire is also heaven, so we use it a fair bit.”
It’s not just the cooking Harding gets stuck into, she also loves setting the table complete with things like napkins and placemats.
“Even if it is just a really casual lunch with friends, I think it’s nice to set the table and create a sense of occasion,” she said.
Harding and Lee move from Melbourne to their Mornington Peninsula home during the summer. Sheridan
Harding also loves making centrepieces and decorations with homegrown produce.
“I’ve got a little veggie patch that I put in a few years ago, and I actually converted half of it into a flower garden. So I’ve now got my own flowers down there which I grow, and I love going out there and picking the flowers and creating my own little floral centrepieces – it’s never super extravagant, I’m not a florist by any means, but I like those little touches.”
When they’re not entertaining, Harding, the founder of razor and body care brand Lui, and Lee, the host of Nine’s The Hundred with Andy Lee, are relaxing in the living room where a bay window brings in the afternoon sun making it perfect for reading and naps.
“Even if it’s a beautiful day, being inside you still feel like you’re outside, and we can open up all the doors and I love spending time in there,” Harding said.
The white and blue bedding choice was inspired by the ocean and sky views the couple have from the master suite. Sheridan
But no space is more restorative than their master bedroom suite which is the result of converting two bedrooms into one large couple’s retreat.
“We get the most ridiculous amount of sleep whenever we're staying there,” she laughed.
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“It’s nice because we’ve got our own little oasis, so when we do have people staying, we’ve got our own little space that we can relax in, and we get ocean glimpses from our window up there. It’s pretty special.”
Their bed is beautifully styled with a white quilt cover and pillowcases with blue detailing, contrasted with blue cushions.
“Andy and I are both long-time lovers of Sheridan, and I think what they do so well is that hotel-style bed, it’s my favourite kind of bedroom styling where you’ve got these beautiful, crisp, thick sheets, and so that’s how I like our bedroom to look in both Melbourne and at the holiday house.
“I think having a bit more of the navy and the blues upstairs is really nice because we see a lot of the sky, and then the little bits of the glimpses of the ocean, so I thought it was really nice to bring that in.
The beach house has been renovated bit by bit as more nieces and nephews joined the family. Sheridan
“Then downstairs in the living space we’ve got a lot more linens, and we play around with a few more textures, and we have those more earthy colours to bring the outside in.”
The beach house renovation is complete for now and perhaps for the foreseeable future with a few more months of work left on their Ravenswood property, which they purchased in 2021.
“We need to finish our Melbourne home and then maybe take a little bit of a break from renovating,” Harding said.
