Emma Lane’s Sprawling Spanish-Inspired Homestead in the Byron Bay Hinterland
Welcome to The Makers. Each week, we’re celebrating innovators, artisans and crafters of all types, taking you on a private tour of their creative spaces. For this instalment, we tour creative Emma Lane's luxurious homestead retreat The Range in the Byron Bay Hinterland.
As far as dream homes go, entrepreneur Emma Lane's is now top of our list. Her sprawling property dubbed The Range, in the Byron Bay Hinterland, is set on 120 acres of land and boasts idyllic views of rolling hills and gorgeous coastline. The property encapsulates Emma's own family home; the homestead, as well as two spaces for holiday accomodation; the barn and and the cabin, for those looking to immerse themselves in a rich architectural space and stunning natural surrounds.
Emma's career began in advertising and has seen her go on to help many brands with name generation, logo creation, and marketing strategy. Now, Emma creates destination lifestyle brands with her husband Tom through The Lane Estates. The pair are the brains behind the much-loved The Farm Byron Bay and The Beach House East Ballina, where sustainability is an everyday driving force. "All our projects tend to have an element of sustainability and a giving back aspect somehow to environment or community," Emma shares with The Bed Threads Journal.
The Range home was created by a team of dedicated creatives including architect friend Dominic Finlay Jones of DFJ Architecture. Dominic travelled with Emma and her family to Spain to get design inspiration from the local architecture. "We used this inspiration to merge with our Australian lifestyle and I think what we ended up with was a perfect blend of both," says Emma.
Stucco walls, arches, natural materials, and a warm, neutral colour palette prevail in the homestead and play into the Spanish aesthetic. The home embraces rich decorative details albeit in a paired down way as Emma likes to "keep it elegant and simple."
Every space in this home is worthy of a feature in any high-end home magazine, but the living room, which is Emma's favourite, is the showstopper. In this open-plan space a large stone fireplace sits in front of a spectacular conversation pit which is positioned to take advantage of the sweeping Byron Bay Hinterland views. It's nothing short of spectacular.
Ahead, Emma shares her creative process, her top tip for a well-styled home, and the exciting new project she's working on.
Hi Emma! This series is called The Makers. What is it that you make?
My husband and I create destination lifestyle brands, under the brand of 'The Lane Estates'. Previous creations are 'The Farm At Byron Bay' and 'The Beach House East Ballina'. Both of these have now moved onto their new custodians. We still have our home The Range Byron Bay and our latest creation is 'The Stables Bangalow'. All our projects tend to have an element of sustainability and a giving back aspect somehow to the environment or the community.
I also love to create art. I have recently rediscovered my love for painting again thanks to my dear friend Dom who runs art classes here in Byron under the name 'Atelier'. I relish the opportunity to hang in my studio and paint to switch off. At the moment it’s a little run of still life paintings that I ferret away at.
How does the act of “making” relate to your personality and who you are?
I love a creative project. Dreaming the idea up, planning, evolving, and seeing it come to life in bricks and mortar or on a canvas. When I’m creating I feel alive and in flow. For some this process is stressful but I love every part of it.
Tell us about your career journey to date. Did you always know you wanted to pursue this line of work?
My career started in advertising, working in agencies in London and then Sydney. My degree is in creative advertising. During my career I have helped to develop many brands with brand name generation, logo creation, and marketing strategy. This has been a great background to all our business ventures and projects and it has allowed me to look at the whole process of developing a brand, working with creatives on artwork, copywriting, and then launching the brand into the market.
Talk us through your creative process. Where do you start?
For a lifestyle brand, usually the idea starts by travelling to an inspiring place or destination that is relevant in some way to a project we have in mind. It might even be just be a visual image I have seen. I’ll then write down ideas, sketch away, and start building on the concept. Pinterest, magazines, and design books all come into play here to evolve the idea.
What’s been the single most crucial tool or strategy you’ve used to further your career
The ability to effectively communicate what you want to those you’re working with to achieve the desired outcome – it saves time and money.
Recreate Emma's look with our Oatmeal Placemats and Rust Napkins.
Recreate Emma's look with our Terracotta Bath Towels, and Terracotta Face and Hand Towels
What’s been the most challenging lesson learnt so far in your career?
Nothing is original as soon as you thought it, discussed it, and put it down on paper - it’s there for the taking! Be careful who you share your early ideas or inspiration with.
What’s been the best thing that’s happened to you since you started your career?
Probably the success of 'The Farm at Byron Bay', it was a family project that we were extremely proud of. It was the first of its kind and brought joy to many, and still continues to do under its new owners.
Do you have a single piece of advice you’d give to your younger self or someone looking to pursue a similar line of work?
Trust your instincts and intuition with the people you share your life with, the ideas and creations you develop – your instincts are usually spot on. The more you practice this the more honed it will become and help you to navigate life.
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Now, the home stuff. How long have you lived in your home?
We have lived at 'The Range' for 3 years now.
How did you initially know this was the space for you?
We had been searching for something like it for many years, we came to the area with a piece of land in mind and it took us two houses and 10 years for it to find us. We had a brief of what we wanted so when we came across this land and it ticked every box we knew we had found home. Certainly worth waiting for and as the saying goes - “all good things come to he who waits.”
Did you do any renovations or make any big changes after moving in?
Yes we pretty much kept a slab and a few walls and re-built from there.
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What was the thought process behind the way you’ve styled the interior?
We had spent some time living in Spain and loved the Spanish architecture. We used this inspiration to merge with our Australian lifestyle and I think what we ended up with was a perfect blend of both.
What are your favourite pieces in the home?
I love my Pierre Jeaneret dining chairs, rugs from Tigmi Trading, and a few special pieces from Island Luxe – our gin and tonic chairs in tan leather by a Dutch designer and a gorgeous cashmere wall hanging by Avant Toi.
Do you have any special décor pieces you’re looking to add?
No really, not unless something really catches my eye, as I like to keep things uncluttered. I’m always tempted by unusual ceramics or glassware as I figure they don’t take up much space, and with a fair amount of open shelving you could always call it shelf art…
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The living room – its open plan, takes advantage of the view, is full of texture, and features, is homely, and contains many of my most loved pieces.
What are your top tips for a well-styled bedroom, and home generally?
It's really the same for a well groomed person – I love Coco Chanel’s saying “ before you leave the house look in the mirror and take one thing off”. With a bedroom it’s the same - not too many cushions or things, keep it elegant and simple.
Do you have any projects coming up you want to talk about?
Our present work in progress project is a gorgeous equine estate and homestead influenced by my daughters, my love of horses, and some of our travels to Europe. The unique element is that we are using a fair amount of a special rendered stonework that we haven’t really seen in this area before, so it’s very exciting. We have worked with local artisans and craftsman we have been working with since the creation of 'The Range', so it's pretty special.
We have had this idea of a stone house since 2018, we just needed to secure the land, and it was inspired by a trip to Italy with the family. The property is 50 acres, features stables and arena for our horses and a few friends, and a beautiful stone homestead that will be available for others to enjoy for a break or a holiday.
There’s nothing like it in the area, and how can you not love all things equine. I would love to share all our other exiting future project we are working on with you, however I have to keep some of my cards close to my chest. Watch this space…
For more from Emma, follow her on Instagram @emmallane and @therangebyronbay
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Discover more of Australia's most beautiful homes in our series, The Makers.
Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Jackie Brown.
