Located in the hinterlands of Byron Bay, the Australian seaside hangout and surfing hub, Sun Ranch channels the area’s hang loose vibe. But it does so in surprising, inventive ways: the resort is set on a 55-acre former cattle farm and takes inspiration from 1970s California ranches houses—sunken living room, crushed velvet upholstery, fringed lampshades, and all.
It’s the brainchild of fashion designer Jamie Blakey and travel journalist Julia Ashwood, who got friends in creative fields to invest and worked with sustainability minded design-build firm Balanced Earth to create a splashy, sybaritic retreat. “Like a rock and roll afterparty from the seventies,” is how Ashwood described their vision to Vogue Australia.
Blakey and Ashwood reveled in the details—note the vintage craftsman furnishings and JB Blunk monographs—and Sun Ranch has quickly landed on top travel lists all over. Tag line stitched on the back of the robes: “Hotel of Good Times.” It’s been a profitable venture, too: the place recently sold for more than $15 million (Blakey, Ashwood, and investors paid $3.9 million in 2021 and poured two years of work into it). The new owners are undisclosed but reportedly plan to continue operating the resort as is.
Even if a visit isn’t in the cards, the design is worth seeing: you might consider applying some of these retro ideas in your own good-time quarters.
Photography by Anson Smart, courtesy of Sun Ranch.
Above: In addition to transforming the original ranch house and building six off-grid barns as guest quarters, the Sun Ranch crew regenerated the property by “welcoming” 10,000 native plants and trees. Balanced Earth also added solar panels and rainwater tanks all over.
Above: The original structure is now The Rambler Long House, home to The Lair, the sunken hangout where breakfast is served. Note the built-in lounge in tiger-print velvet. The beaded hanging light is one of several custom pieces artist Lana Launay made for Sun Ranch: see our recent story on her natural material sculptural lamps.
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