Home Stories: Tess and Sean Godkin

Posted on 1 December, 2018

There’s a saying that if you love your job, you never have to work a day in your life.

I wonder if you could apply that logic to your home? If it resembles a vacation getaway, does that mean you’ll be on holidays forever?

That idea popped into my head as I sat on a very comfortable couch with Tess and Sean Godkin in their Greenleigh home, alongside their pat-demanding doggie Coco.

As Coco received amounts of attention that would make my own doggie’s eyes green, I learned that Tess and Sean bought the block about three years ago, to design and build a retreat-like getaway after outgrowing their Crace townhouse.

The home took two years to become liveable, but it was worth the wait. Sean only had two demands; a pool and a studio, which were not too difficult to satisfy, and Tess’ remaining wishes clearly shaped the rest of the spacious, light and relaxed home.

The property has a stunning view of the hills behind Queanbeyan, I think. I say ‘I think’ because I got quite disorientated in that location and Tess and Sean laughed every time I pointed to where I thought Canberra was.

Well, whatever we were looking at was stunning with its hills, valleys and forests. Their place is so part of nature that there were a whole bunch of deer on their driveway the other day. It made sense though—we are only a month away from Christmas.

Tess and Sean used the opportunity of the move to keep only their favourite pieces, starting afresh and collecting furniture and home décor pieces that made them feel at ease and that suited having a toddler and a very new baby.

With both of them being very busy people, the idea of home being a getaway from the works was really important.

Tess is a superb photographer specialising in food (yep, she has her own studio too) while Sean is a communications engineer working on contracts that are way too complicated for me to detail here. In other words, Coco came up for another pat during the explanation and I got distracted. Rude I know, but Coco is so cute.

What I can tell you about Sean is that he is also a DJ. This is how we met a few years back and we’ve been friends since.

When I asked Tess about her principles for styling her home, she listed three things; firstly, use nothing that’s a current fad; secondly, opt for ‘lived in’ pieces; and last, but not least, make sure it’s bright.

Tess adds, “I don’t know if this is correct, but people have told me that it’s a bit Hamptons in style, but I don’t’ know if that’s accurate”. Yes, yes it is, and that was exactly moment where I thought of the line at the start of this story.

So, do you think it’s possible for your home to be just like a true getaway retreat? If it is, then it would explain why these two have the loveliest sense of calm and warmth about them. Apparently, holidays do that to you.