For hospitality entrepreneurs Bruce and Chyka Keebaugh, “home” is a collection of places that reflect the life they have built together.
The couple have a sun-filled apartment with Sydney Harbour views in Potts Point, a house in picturesque Main Ridge on the Mornington Peninsula as their primary base, and are looking forward to moving into an architectural penthouse atop Carmine House in the new Richmond Square precinct in Melbourne, which they bought in July.
Each serves a different purpose, but together they allow the Keebaughs to run their businesses in Victoria and NSW while maintaining a sense of belonging.
Bruce says they divide their time evenly between Potts Point, Main Ridge and their existing Richmond apartment, while the penthouse takes shape nearby. “We try to do a week in Sydney, a week in Richmond, a week in Main Ridge, and then we roll into it all over again,” he says.
Certain comforts are replicated across their properties, including the same bedding and Grazia-made swivel club chairs, for familiarity. “It’s just nice to have a couple of things that are exactly the same, albeit the decor is totally different in each house, because then you always feel like you’re at home – and nobody creates a home better than Chyka,” Bruce says.
Bruce and Chyka founded The Big Group, Australia’s largest privately owned catering and event management company, in 1990. They operate several hospitality businesses and venues, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney’s The Rocks and Glasshouse at Melbourne’s Olympic Park, alongside Chyka’s lifestyle, fashion and homewares partnerships with Harris Scarfe, Blue Illusion and Karen Gee.
They launched The Big Group in NSW about four years ago, and needed a Sydney base. “We just love Potts Point,” Bruce says, speaking to Domain from the apartment overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
“Tonight, after Sydney Contemporary, we can walk downstairs and go to dinner at Cho Cho San, The Apollo or Fratelli Paradiso, and it’s such a beautiful village lifestyle.”
The simplicity and freedom of their Sydney residence changed how the couple thought about apartment living, and influenced their decision to buy in Carmine House.
Their rooftop penthouse crowns one of two residential buildings in developer Fortis’ hotel, retail, wellness, beauty and dining. Celebrated restaurateur Guy Grossi is opening two hospitality concepts in the development.
For Bruce and Chyka, luxury is dropping their bags and feeling instantly at ease, particularly at a stage oflife when maintaining a large house and gardens in the city is becoming trickier with travel and work commitments.
“It was this apartment in Potts Point that swayed us to move into a new apartment in Richmond, because of the lifestyle and the amenities,” Bruce says. “Having everything in a great building … and within walking distance, we have the best of Richmond.
“In an apartment, you’ve got security and access, and they’re very important luxuries, I think, as we move forward and prepare, hopefully, for grandchildren.”
Each home has an individual personality, thanks to Chyka’s instincts for style and homemaking. Their Potts Point pad leans modernist, with warm peach and orange tones to echo the glowing sunsets over the harbour. “Our Main Ridge home has a totally different feeling, anchored with black, caramel and grey tones offset by the verdant green gardens designed by Paul Bangay, which is going to be very different again to what we’re creating at Carmine House, which will be very eclectic, colour saturated and full of art, antiques and the beautiful collection of pieces collected over our travels,” Bruce says.
Carmine House is designed by SJB architects, with interiors by Hecker Guthrie. Chyka and Paul Hecker are working together on a finish that reflects how the couple lives and entertains.
A centrepiece will be an eight-metre glass-and-steel wall displaying china, crockery and cutlery between the dining and kitchen spaces. “If we’re having a dinner party, you can see into the kitchen if you want to, and the chefs working can see out,” Bruce says.
“It’s been an interesting approach. We know how we live and entertain, and so we will design the spaces accordingly for either an intimate dinner for six or a cocktail party for a
few hundred!”
The first residents are expected to move into Carmine House and Wiltshire House in late September. Some premium residences are still available, including full-floor penthouses in Wiltshire House and a sub-penthouse in Carmine House.
