Painter William MacKinnon's beach house sits above one of Victoria's most legendary surf breaks — which is already doing a lot of heavy lifting before you've even walked in. Our brief was simple and completely irresistible: layer in colour, add warmth, and let decades of extraordinary collected art lead the way. So that's exactly what we did.

Tones of yellow and muted greens, vintage furniture hunted from local finds that felt less sourced and more discovered, all of it landing against the backdrop of a art collection that William has spent a lifetime curating. Step through the pale butter-yellow weatherboard and the house greets you the only way it knows how — every wall covered, every centimetre claimed. Expansive oils, charcoal portraits, lenticular landscapes that shift and wink as you move past them. It's a lot, in the very best possible way.

Part beach house. Part gallery. Part portrait of a creative life lived completely on its own terms.

Photos: Willem Dirk du Toit