We visited the Federation home of interior designer Lily Cumberland and husband Robert Josephsen in Sydney’s Lower North Shore to talk most-loved cocktails, their ultimate design inspirations and their dream cars.

We love to cook… Robert: Barbecue, always. Eye fillet from a good butcher, medium rare, with a spiced seasoning and whatever’s ready in the vegetable garden. There have been a lot of kale and tomato salads the past few months.

Favourite drink? Lily: A Chilli Watermelon Margarita with fresh lime from the Shoal Bay Country Club in Port Stephens, NSW. Robert: Spiced rum with something summery.

What’s on your bedside table? Lily: The children’s books Fletcher and the Rainbow and Hooray for Fish! Robert: And I’ve got Spiro.
You Might Also Like: “We’re borrowing it from history” – inside Lily Cumberland’s restored Sydney Federation home

Federation home facadeAn interior designer takes on the project of her career: the restoration of a neglected Federation-era gem to create a picture-perfect home for her family. (Photography: Chris Warnes)

Favourite artists? Lily: The Impressionists – Renoir and Pissarro, especially. I studied visual arts before moving into interiors and that era has stayed with me.

Favourite film? Lily: Bridget Jones’s Diary and anything period – Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility… But I also love an action thriller, especially The Bourne Identity. That music in the closing scene gets me every time. Robert: I don’t get much time for movies, but I’m a Star Wars guy.

I’m inspired by… Lily: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert – how they championed design and social reform. But also their love story. Robert: My father, Jim, and Lily’s late father, Glenn. Their integrity and work ethic shaped how we approach everything.

Dream car? Lily: A cream vintage 1960s Mercedes-Benz. It’s Bauhaus-inspired style – so elegant. And it would look great in the driveway. Rob wants a Ferrari Portofino, as it’s the closest thing to a supercar that has a back seat for Henry.

Our favourite things(clockwise from left) Nobu Sydney, a Chilli Watermelon Margarita, Peonies captured by Patrick Langwallner, a cream vintage 1960s Mercedes-Benz captured by Amirali Shaghaghi.

Next destination is… Lily: Our beach house, in an almost off-grid town on the NSW coast. It’s also our next project – we needed another one!

Meet me at… Lily: The back steps. We walk each other out and wave goodbye every morning. We just like being home more than anywhere else these days. Date night is rare – maybe once a year – and it’s always Nobu, in Sydney, for the Toro Tartare with Caviar.

What’s in your vases? Lily: Peonies are my favourite, and hydrangeas. Or the flowers Henry bought me from Coles for Valentine’s Day!

You Might Also Like: Shop Lily Cumberland’s restored Federation home, layered with patterns, colour, and English country feel


Tom Lazarus writer

Writer

Tom Lazarus

Tom’s writing about interiors, culture, fashion, surfing, drinks, places and people has appeared in shelf-loads of magazines across the UK, New Zealand and Australia, including Australian House & Garden and Inside Out. Being from Manchester, England, he can get emotional about converted warehouses and got his start profiling nightclubs for i-D. He’s still fascinated by the stories hidden within weathered stone, and feels very lucky to live in a solid old house in Sydney’s Inner West with his family, too many musical instruments and too few charging cables. He’s continually inspired by the self-inflicted punishment that is renovating a building and can’t wait to meet the next dreamer who does it.