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Top Billing features a home that turned tragedy turns to triumph
Top Billing features a home that turned tragedy turns to triumph
This week on Top Billing tragedy turns to triumph as we bring you the incredible story of Murray Iverson’s home which burned to the ground and nine months later, rose again.
The last time we were here at Murray Iverson’s home, everyone loved it but the reason we’re back is not just for a catch-up. Last year, this spectacular home burned to the ground. Thankfully everyone got out safely and now, like a phoenix, the house has risen from the ashes.
In 2017, Murray wondered if and when his bad year would ever end. On our previous visit here we’d seen a home filled with the furniture, homeware and lighting with which his business is built on. But in a tough year for retail, he had to retrench staff and at a time when a lot of people were worrying about losing the roof over their heads, he literally lost his and the rest of the home with it.
Architect Gustavo Norambuena was central to this phoenix of a home being reborn.
As well as art and sentimental pieces, Murray lost the three thousand books he had collected over twenty years. But once he rebuilt his library - friends and family offered scores of old classics and any visit to a market is now an excuse to buy new volumes.
With the scale of the house, oversize fittings and furniture had to be made both locally and in India and Indonesia. The rebuild was seen as a series of opportunities.
There are no less than five outdoor dining spaces for chef Murray to entertain, the new koi pond was made more structured and the boma shows that his appetite for big gatherings is undiminished.
Most importantly, they survived the fire and for the two human beings, five dogs and Rambo, the resident tortoise, life is looking up!
