“I wanted people to be able to bathe in aesthetics.” Coming from someone else’s lips, this might seem trite, even a little grandiose. But from William MacKinnon, it’s a sincere statement of intent – one the artist has genuinely brought to fruition at his property overlooking Cathedral Rock, just outside Lorne on Victoria’s surf coast.

MacKinnon is quick to point out though that the magic of this place, called The Artist’s Beach House , is as much about what you hear as what you see. The sound of ocean waves gathering steam, then hitting the shore at Cathedral Rock, a revered surf break. Kookaburras laughing, parrots singing, black cockatoos squawking and crimson rosellas squeaking. Furious wind that occasionally whips around the house. But mostly it’s the surging sets coming off the Southern Ocean.

In Australia, we’re not short of beautifully appointed beach houses, and through an increasing array of platforms we can rent them too. But Mackinnon’s house is special – the kind of place no interior designer, let alone a layman, could replicate. This house, which is now open to guests through some of spring and all summer, could only be his.

Tall, with a surfer’s tan, broad, open smile and brown swept-back hair, MacKinnon is a multi-time Archibald Prize finalist, Wynne Prize finalist and Alice Prize finalist. His works are held by institutions such as the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia, as well as private collections here and overseas. This is no ordinary artist’s beach house.

As you step over the threshold of the pale butter coloured weatherboard, canvases are attached to every square centimetre of wall space. Large, expansive oil paintings mix with charcoal portraits and lenticular landscapes. MacKinnon painted many of these works, but the collection is also a trove of pieces “bought, swapped and collected over the last 40 years”.

“The house is reasonably modest in its own way, like an old homestead with lots of timber,” MacKinnon says. “But then there are these gobsmacking views down the Great Ocean Road and into the bush as it meets the ocean: truly pristine sand, fresh moving water.”

MacKinnon, who now lives between Australia and Spain, grew up holidaying between two seminal beach houses – one in Lorne with his mum and stepdad, and one in Robe in South Australia with his father.

In Robe, “there was a gutter that ran through the inside of the house, an old shearers table, no TV, lots of board games, fruit trees, a record player, sea grass matting,” MacKinnon says. “They bought it cheap when it had a demolition order on it, and it retained a dishevelled rundown creaky charm.

“Dad was a farmer and farmers never stop. Here, he would walk in and instantly relax. The back door was never locked, he wore jeans and bare feet, he was available to play board games – several simultaneously. There were big fires, fish and chips, red wine. I was indoctrinated with staples: Cat Stevens, JJ Cale, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul Simon. I can still see and feel the albums.

“The other house was down at Lorne and looked through the blue gums over Lorne Point, a gentle wave perfect for learning to surf, which began for me a lifelong obsession. Both places are long gone and for the last 25 years I’ve dreamed about creating my version of the best bits.”

In so many ways, these houses are alive in Cathedral Rock. A second living area revolves around a record player, the perfect partner for the old pool table that occupies half of the room. There are vintage board games. The furnishings have style but aren’t precious. There are robust natural surfaces, linen curtains and vintage light fixtures.

The glamour, or opulence, here comes from the art: innumerable paintings, lithographs, prints, drawings and other works on paper. Some made by his grandfather and mother, some by contemporary artists and peers, many by MacKinnon himself.

There’s his grandfather’s painting of the family farm. A portrait of his grandfather by his close friend, Fred Williams, one of Australia’s most celebrated 20th-century artists (MacKinnon’s grandfather was an obstetrician, and delivered all of Williams’s children).

There are pieces by contemporary artists including Aaron Carter and Jake Walker, as well as by Kim Westcott and Tim Maguire, for whom MacKinnon worked as an artist assistant for two and three years respectively. He points to one of his own paintings, a self-portrait that depicts him watching Naata Nungurrayi, the acclaimed Pintupi artist, painting. “I worked in Central Australia for a year for Papunya Tula, the first Indigenous-owned art centre in the Western Desert, which had a huge influence on my work and life.”

True Colours hangs in the home’s entrance hall. Though MacKinnon painted it in 2024 before he bought this property, it depicts the side of a weatherboard house uncannily similar to this one.

Of course, if the weather’s good, you might not spend that much time inside. There are sunlounges and at least four different outdoor eating areas across two decks. The height of the house, and two expansive wraparound verandahs, means you’re enveloped by the treetops no matter where you stand, and there are jaw-dropping ocean views from every angle. To the north-east, the curves and hills of the Great Ocean Road, stretching up to Eastern View and Aireys Inlet, with its iconic Split Point Lighthouse; in front, surfers, rolling waves and the white sand of Cathedral Rock beach; to the south-west, a ridge of dense bush.

There are several bushwalks you can do, right from the front door. For the ambitious, there’s a six-kilometre round trip straight up the hill through the huge mountain-ash forest to Horseshoe Falls. It’s just a five-minute walk down the hill to the beach, or swing round to the left for a 20-minute walk to the little-known, mossy Cathedral Rock.

“The magic of this place is it gets me out of my busy mind. It is all about the body and the senses. I’ve made an outdoor shower, where you stand on mossy rocks surrounded by ancient ferns. There’s a clawfoot Victorian bath on one corner of the veranda, which looks out over the ocean. I’ve installed a woodfired hot tub in the bush, and a firepit, which is great place to cook on the fire and entertain under the stars.

“I’ll be walking around, and there’s a rainbow and a wave crashes, booming sound up the hill. I whip out my phone and it looks small and less intense than the actual experience. There’s the fugitive light, and the constantly shifting weather and tides. The moon, often putting on a show. This is what I wanted for myself and for my kids.

“I know the screen thing is one of the biggest things to contend with and my view is that my best bet is to offer a richer alternative – lighting a fire, or jumping off the rocks into pumping waves.”

The Artist’s Beach House sleeps 12 and is available to rent from now until the end of October, and then again from Boxing Day until the end of March 2026. Book here.

This story is part of Broadsheet’s special Aussie Travel Issue , presented by Up, exploring uncommon escapes and remarkable stays close to home.