More Maggie Magic

Ok, so a couple of days ago I showed you Maggie Tabberer's house from 18 years ago. Well this is her house she lives in today. All pictures are from the Australian Women's Weekly. Maggie's lived in at least one other home since the one I showed you (I wish I had kept photos of that one too - it was equally good). Her latest home is a stunning three storey white timber home, built around a courtyard which is dominated by a 100 year old frangipani tree.

Here's the white galley kitchen, complete with chunky white marble benchtops. I'm loving those dark floors.

Here's that marvellous frangipani tree - can you imagine it in full bloom? You can see Maggie's bedroom opens right on to this courtyard - so you could step from the bed straight into the pool should you wish. And doesn't Maggie look fabulous - I hope I look as good slinking around in my caftan as Maggie at 71!

A view of the living room...

If you look carefully at this other view of Maggie's living room, you might notice some objects from her former home - the trunk, chair and the massive spiked swordfish bill were all in her other home I featured. This proves again the old adage that while fashion might fade, style lasts forever.

The serene bedroom has a tropical feel. The feature wall is glazed grey.

Maggie picked up these cutwork embroidery curtains in a market in Italy.


This picture does this bathroom no justice. I adore the cool, serene white marble, funky cutwork lightfitting and the antique chinese chest fashioned into a bathroom vanity. Maggie I'm moving in, I'll just sleep in here thanks.

Asian touches abound....mixed with other bold, earthy treasures picked up on Maggie's travels around the globe.

So, you might be asking yourself by now what is the connection between Maggie Tabberer and artist Marcella Kaspar who I featured yesterday....it's this house. Maggie's home was built by Marcella and her builder/designer husband Mark Cooper. So not only is Marcella a talented artist, she also has some incredible taste in homes (or at least, incredible taste in men who have incredible taste in homes).

These pictures appeared in Australia's Vogue Living. Unfortunately these pictures aren't complete and don't do the place justice.

Same bathroom...same lightfighting, different mirrors. I think I actually prefer these mother of pearl twin mirrors, which they picked up in India.

If you look verrry carefully, it appears that behind the tree is one of Marcella's magnificent huge paintings.


So there you have it - two equally fabulous and stylish women. I hope Marcella Kaspar's current home pops up in a magazine somewhere.

Maggie Magic

Almost everyone in Australia would know Maggie Tabberer. She is an Australian fashion icon - a former model and Helmut Newton muse turned fashion editor of the Australian Women's Weekly Magazine. She's also a former Adelaide girl done good. Maggie is 71 and the picture above is recent - how fabulous does she look?

Today I'm hauling out some pictures from my style file of a home Maggie shared with former love Richard Zachariah (who turned out to be a bit of a cad, unfortunately). I think these pictures first appeared in Mode (now long gone) back in 1990.

The trunk, the white couches, sisal flooring, the huge candlestick - what's not to love here?

Whilst these pictures aren't of the best quality, and have yellowed somewhat, I think they demonstrate that Maggie's style is rather timeless.

I love Maggie's liberal use of white, her bold accessories, her lack of clutter and the earthiness of things like shells and cane. Remember this was at a time when most houses were full of the cottage look - think lots of pattern, knick knacks everywhere, lots of little ducks on placemats, fridge magnets, tea towells, floral wallpaper borders part way up the wall...shall I go on?. Yet Maggie stood above that all. Just check out these gorgeous chairs.

In 1991 Maggie wrote "A long time ago I made up my mind about what I really like. And in terms of interior decoration I see it being very similar to building a fashion wardrobe that makes an immediate statement about who you are. When you do buy something and you're confident it's what you like, that you're not being swayed by fashion whim or your best friend or some colour spread in a magazine, then you are being true to your own sense of style. Being true to your personal tastes, you will steadily develop an enduring inner confidence". Well said.

Another day I will post pictures of Maggie's stunning current home.