Photography and text by Mandy Lamont.
On the bustling corner of Miller Street and Pacific Highway in North Sydney, climb the stairs and you’ll find the escape of the Treehouse.
This playful space deliberately avoids conventional styling. Owners, Sally, Graeme and Andrew, wanted it to feel like a treehouse: a collection of pieces from different places brought together with a hint of magic.
Sally spent a lot of time sourcing materials from the Heritage Building Centre in Rockdale or weekly Raffan Kelaher auctions. The result is an eclectic mix of details ranging from vintage gates and gargoyles to a 99 cent piano from ebay.
The interior was more sparse when Treehouse opened three and a half years ago but new finds are added regularly. A recent feature is cosy booths with industrial style rope-and-pulley lighting.
– Old oak doors across the front of the spacious bar
– A wall of salvaged louvres topped with LED lights that change colour like a massive game of tetris
– Antique iron gates leading to the courtyard with vintage mirrors, bird cages, umbrellas and gargoyles adding a touch of ‘through the looking glass’ madness
– Secondhand chandeliers in the main dining room
– Art deco lights over the kitchen and retro lamp shades used upside down on the ceiling
– Colourful clusters of vintage armchairs
– Original hotel-style toilet doors (some with boxes on the back where you used to put your penny) finished with pressed metal inserts instead of glass
– And salvaged school troughs and vintage accessories in the bathrooms.
Businesses are starting to shake free of mainstream conventions and really have fun with interior styling. At Treehouse the decor and the motto both invite you to ‘come and play’.
60 Miller Street, North Sydney. www.thetreehousehotel.com.au
