Blue and white Lantau family home lets the living be easy
With its dazzling colour scheme and rustic vibe, this bright and breezy Lantau family home is a breath of fresh air, writes Viv Jones.
From the outside, Jo and Willy Lorenz’s village house in Lantau is unassuming and unremarkable. The 2,100-sq-ft, threestorey building looks much like its island neighbours – until you pass through the bold blue front door. Then the true nature of the house reveals itself as a breath of Australian fresh air in steamy Hong Kong.
A colour palette dominated by crisp white and blue, and accented with natural elements of wood and stone has created a “rustic country” style that speaks volumes about its owner’s occupation. A fashion, food and interiors stylist, Jo Lorenz knows a thing or two about putting together a look.
She wanted to create something very different to the usual Hong Kong interior. “There’s a distinctive style to Hong Kong houses – the herringbone floors and so on,” she says. “And we really wanted our house to feel like you’re not necessarily in Hong Kong.
We wanted to step into something a bit more provincial, a bit more like a home that Willy and I might have grown up in.”
For Jo, that meant the freedom of an outdoor lifestyle in Sydney, Australia, while her pilot husband grew up on a farm in the rural United States.
Although the couple met and married in the urban heart of Hong Kong Island, the arrival of their first son – now two – prompted a move to Lantau, where they first purchased a house in a development of 26 similar properties. After redecorating and selling that property, the couple bought their latest home, which was in a less-than-perfect state, last year.
All the plumbing and electrical work had to be ripped out and reinstalled to meet industry standards, and while the layout remained much the same – three bedrooms, two bathrooms – a new interior was painstakingly created with the help of a contractor.
“You can see I’m boringly obsessed with blue and white,” Jo says, laughing. “But we wanted a livable home. We wanted something that worked and was functional. Everything gets used; everything has a purpose. We wanted to create a really livable space that is also quite magical for the kids.”
While the ground floor is given over to a generous open-plan kitchen-diner-sitting room, complete with faux chimney breast and stone-clad walls, the first floor is devoted to the children, who enjoy an enviable playroom with soft wall-to-wall carpeting and large windows. A guest bathroom and study occupy the same floor, while the top floor houses the master bedroom, a family bathroom and two smaller bedrooms for the boys.
French doors lead from the kitchen to a small patio used to store surfboards and other paraphernalia (Willy is a keen paraglider). One day, the gear may be accommodated in a small guest house, “or man cave”, they are considering building on land opposite the house, across a public path, that is legally attached to their property. One thing is for sure: it will be perfectly coordinated with the rest of this stylish house.
Styling: Jo Lorenz
Sitting room Jo Lorenz designed a faux chimney breast to disguise ugly pipework. The Ektorp twoseater sofa and chaise longue (HK$6,290 for both), and plant stands (HK$299 each), were from Ikea. The coffee table was a gift. The vintage barn pendant lamp (HK$390) came from sofasale.com.hk; and the Spode Italian dairy jug was a gift.
Master bedroom The king-sized bed was purchased from Tequila Kola several years ago and is no longer available. The matching Hemnes bedside tables (HK$499 each), Jara lamp shades (HK$99.90 each) and Gaser rug (HK$1,490) were from Ikea, and the wooden lamp bases (HK$520 each) came from Tang Tang Tang Tang (66 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2525 2112). The wooden valet was purchased through Taobao several years ago. The cream carpet (HK$36 per square foot) came from Forever Wallpaper & Carpet.
Bedroom The baby’s room is calm and restful. The cot, side table and changing table – which Lorenz made from a wine rack – were hand-me-downs from friends. The carpet (HK$36 per square foot) came from Forever Wallpaper & Carpet; the drum ceiling light (US$129), striped canvas bucket (US$27), striped oar (US$39) and bear mobile (US$59) all came from Pottery Barn Kids.
TRIED + TESTED
"There were windows everywhere when we bought the house," she says. "I just didn't see the point of these huge glass panels that would always have to be covered by a curtain since they looked straight out onto our neighbours."
Her solution was to reduce the size of the windows and replace them with smaller stained-glass windows of her own design.
"They let in light while at the same time giving us privacy and adding colour and style to the space," she says.