Herne Bay: Waterside style

The master bedroom opens to a tropical pool setting, with decks perched among palms and sweet-smelling gardenias. Picture / Brent Parsons

A Herne Bay home makes the most of its water views on two levels.

Paul Burton has built two homes in the same St Marys Bay street, and both are by the same architect - Paterson, Cullen, Irwin. After living in the first, he decided the bold, minimalist look of polished concrete floors and acres of unadorned glass was great when you saw it all dressed up in design magazines, but not so easy to live with. Dramatic for sure, but all the hard surfaces can feel rather forboding. So, for this home, he opted for a much softer, more homelier feel, that's far easier on the eye.

"It's more relaxed," says Paul. "I've come back to a lot of curtains and soft furnishings in a tailored kind of way. It's more luxurious to live in, rather than something that's minimal and hard."

With its tall stud height and timber shuttered windows, the house has a refined elegance that suggests the laid-back, seaside flavour of a tropical resort hotel. Paul says he was very much influenced by his stays at Best Western hotels. "They're modern without being minimal and I quite like that feel."

Instead of the austere white used in the first house, Paul paired whites with welcoming chocolate browns and creamy caramels. These introduce warmth from the word go, even on the exterior that looks across to Selby Square, a communal area for the locals.

A big, dark-stained, timber entry door pivots open, enticing guests directly into the huge, open-plan living area upstairs. The entry from the double garage also conveniently opens to the room. As soon as you are inside, you are struck by the breath-taking views that draw you out through glass sliders towards the Harbour Bridge. Because the balustrade on the terrace is toughened glass, it's invisible, bringing the vibrant maritime outlook that much closer.

Doors can be left open to the terrace all day long, letting the living area soak up the sun and the gentle sea breezes. Security is not a problem, for the property is fully fenced and embraced by other secure properties.

Without air conditioning, the heat in this sun-trap could easily become too intense for those days at the height of summer. When it's really hot, Paul simply slides the doors across to maintain the coolness. A sea of pale timber flooring inset with a large square of caramel carpet lets you dig in your toes and savour the softness. Or you can snuggle up on the sofas that help break up the scale of the room.

To the rear of the dining area, the kitchen is contained behind a seamless, white, Carrara marble bench. Cabinetry fitted neatly inside a recess is an unusual striated timber, which gives a rich backdrop.

Downstairs, the master bedroom suggests a laid-back holiday mood, opening to a tropical pool oasis with decks perched among palms and sweet-smelling gardenias. When Paul built the house he used the original home's footprint to make the most of the site. This prevented him from putting stairs leading to the garden, but he likes it that way. "It's lovely waking up beside the swimming pool and the garden."

Hiding the pool filtration equipment, a utility area at the end of the garden is segregated by a stone wall, which provides an interesting contrast to the clean, white, tiled surface of the heated pool.

Paul and his partner, Leslie, use the bedroom beside theirs as an enormous dressing room, but the house is designed so the doorway can be moved out of the main suite along the hall to become the entry to the fourth bedroom. Two more bedrooms further back create extra space for a family.

The bathrooms are another strong feature of the house. The master en suite offers dual shower heads behind a wall of glass, where a couple can bathe to the sound of music. Like a piece of living room furniture, a curvaceous vanity with drawers supports chunky, white, oval basins.

Definitely elegant, this warm and welcoming sanctuary is a place to lift the spirits at the end of a long, hard day at the office.