Ardour Milton Park Bowral has opened its doors, showcasing interiors by Sydney-based interior architect Alan Mc Mahon of MAC Design Studio.
Originally established in 1910 as a grand private country residence, the property occupies approximately 300 acres of established Southern Highlands grounds, and has been designed with restraint and respect to its storied heritage.
With its European-inspired gardens, formal symmetry and generous architectural scale serving as the brief, Mc Mahon preserved the building’s original architectural detailing; ornate cornices, classical mouldings and generous ceiling heights were retained and reframed through a disciplined contemporary layer.
To complement this, antique furnishings and artworks intrinsic to Milton Park’s character were carefully restored and recontextualised rather than replaced, while bespoke elements such as custom joinery, lighting, rugs, carpets and soft furnishings were designed exclusively for the project.
The estate’s surrounding gardens also find their way into the design scheme, with century-old plantings, sweeping lawns, sculpted hedges and ornamental lakes directly informing interior material tones, spatial sequencing and sightline composition throughout the building.
Soft greens, muted blues and earthy neutrals echo the grounds, while furniture placement slows movement and frames views.
With the Eliva spa now open, Ardour Milton Park Bowral is operating at its full intended scope. The wellness offer includes a mineral pool, sauna, Pilates studio and dedicated treatment spaces, all oriented to garden outlooks.
Embedded within the building’s architectural rhythm are the estate’s two dining venues, the refined and intimate Horderns Restaurant and the Polo Bar, a more social counterpoint.
As the inaugural property in Salter Brothers Hospitality’s Ardour Hotels & Estates collection, Ardour Milton Park Bowral is the opening statement in what the group intends to become Australia’s defining portfolio of heritage luxury destinations.
“Working with a building like this requires a particular discipline,” concludes Mc Mahon. “You have to resist both reverence and reinvention. The temptation to over-design is real. The better instinct is restraint.”
