With a foundation centred in craftsmanship and human experience, Island House distils a family’s connection to place into a timeless design-led stay on Lord Howe Island.

“I’ve got my grandfather’s Super 8 footage of landing on the lagoon, with the water slapping up against the windows." Timmy Maxwell’s parents visited Lord Howe as children, when flying boats serviced the island from Sydney’s Rose Bay. Today, I skim over the same glassy lagoon to touch down beside it on the short airstrip built in 1974 – but the view must look unchanged: a crescent-shaped island of volcanic peaks fringed with golden sand and a shock of turquoise.

The story behind Island House

Timmy himself began holidaying here in 2000, after his parents jumped at the chance to buy their own parcel of paradise 600 kilometres off Australia’s east coast. Fast-forward 25 years and we meet at Island House, the meticulous result of a five-year build he completed with his father, Michael Maxwell. Opening in 2020, they transformed what was once a cluster of holiday apartments into a luxury eight-guest hideaway.

The lodge comprises two distinct properties – North House and South House – designed by the father-and-son duo in collaboration with Newcastle-based Derive Architecture & Design. Their sleek and understated exteriors are crafted from hardwood and copper, and set on elevated platforms to preserve the natural landscape.

Hidden within a grove of endemic Kentia palms and centuries-old banyan trees, the two houses are connected by an al fresco area that serves as a central gathering point and, each sleeping four, can be booked separately or together.

The design honours the landscape

True to its setting on Lord Howe Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1982 where visitor numbers are capped at 400 at any one time, Island House treads lightly, capturing rainfall, drawing on solar power and treating sewage onsite to protect the island’s fragile ecosystem. It’s a place of careful consideration, where everything – from customised daily adventures to meals prepared by a private chef – feels intuitive.

The experience unfolds from a grounding in design, with a visual language shaped by the layering of Michael and Timmy’s shared history. “We really wanted to do something that reflected our passions and spoke to our personal experiences and inspirations," says Timmy. Michael’s career in finance and property ran parallel to cultural pursuits such as restoring wooden boats and architectural homes and serving as chairman of Sculpture by the Sea.

While Timmy’s path blends adventure (a sense of which, from fishing to trail running, was first fostered here on the island) with hospitality; by the age of 24 in 2013 he had opened his own Sydney wine bar, Kubrick’s, before turning his sights back to Lord Howe. With touchpoints to draw on such as sound, art, sculpture, furniture, food, architecture and adventure, “this language of celebrating what’s really timeless started to come through," Timmy tells me.

That ethos finds form in mid-century Danish furniture, sourced in Copenhagen – with original pieces from leading proponents of the movement including Poul Kjærholm, Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl – alongside Italian marble, American oak floorboards and stainless steel. There are botanical sculptures by Alison Coates. A whole wall of books. Ceramics from Kyoto, copper bathtubs and a significant collection of Indigenous Australian art, including pieces by celebrated Ngan’gikurrungurr woman Regina Pilawuk Wilson and the late Pintupi man Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, a founder of the Western Desert art movement.

The Maxwells’ love of music is expressed through each house’s sound system; Timmy admits to having “nerded out" over the statement Wilson Audio speakers that anchor the North House lounge. Fanta-orange sculptural forms that look not unlike robots. “They’re both high-spec and forgiving," he says. Fuzzy round the edges – like the evenings my partner and I spend curled up here, drinking wine and listening to music in a way we haven’t for ages.

Every design choice reflects an investment in craftsmanship and an instinct for what feels right to humans – not least the proportions, with North House seemingly hitting a golden ratio with its four-metre ceilings. Strategically placed skylights keep us connected to the outdoors; when the sun shines, shafts of light illuminate curated corners while palm shadows dance across the walls. It’s a place to cocoon in after a day spent in the elements.

The role of food and hospitality at Island House

The human aspect is at play in every moment our hosts anticipate for us. When our snorkelling trip in the lagoon ends abruptly in a torrential downpour, general manager Anna Klein is already waiting at the shore with towels and the car to whisk us back to warmth. With our beach barbecue plans pivoted, chef Kimie Uemeto has prepared a hearty pumpkin soup to enjoy in-house – exactly what we need.

The next morning, we head out on a walk, waving g’day to the omnipresent Lord Howe woodhen, the island’s endemic flightless bird, and follow a trail through bushland to 360-degree views from Transit Hill. The weather has turned fine and on our return to the house, plans for our ‘we curate, you cook’ lunch have been switched for a beach picnic. Anna has laid out a rug under the shade of two palms, and all that remains is to cycle down to Ned’s Beach and raid a hamper packed with whipped feta to slather on soft rolls, with juicy tomatoes and fresh salad greens. “Pack your snorkels," Anna had advised – and soon enough we wade into the bath-like sea, snorkelling the coral just offshore in gin-clear water.

Dinners, too, are intuitive affairs, with Kimie working with whatever produce is available on the island, from freshly caught fish to daily finds at the Nursery down the road. “It’s very different from what I used to cook in Japan, because I used to cook very traditional cuisine," she says. Moving here from Sydney five years ago with her young family, she has learned to be flexible. “Here on the island, you don’t know what’s available tomorrow," she says. “I like cooking with my feeling. And this place allows me to do that."

Exploring other Lord Howe Island highlights

We visit the Nursery the next day, a greenhouse project the Maxwells oversee that grows fresh produce as well as cultivating Kentia palms for export (a tradition that goes back to Victorian times; the world’s most popular endemic plant is native to Lord Howe). It’s on the same site as the Lord Howe Island Brewery, which father and son also founded, and which serves as a community hub. It’s open Thursday and Saturday for woodfired pizzas and drinks in the convivial beer garden and offers weekly tours for those keen to go behind the scenes of one of the world’s most remote breweries.

Our own visit in April coincides with the inaugural Dark Sky Festival and we join a Science Talk hosted at the brewery one evening. Among topics ranging from the transit of Venus to black holes and moon illusion, we learn about light pollution and the importance of dark sky conservation. How the planet would benefit if we all turned our lights down.

By design, not much has changed on Lord Howe Island since the days the flying boats splashed down on the lagoon. There’s still no mobile reception on the island, and being totally out of range as we are out and about exploring feels like a rare liberty. An apparent luxury in a too-connected world. Some guests looking forward to a digital detox, says Timmy, are disappointed to learn that Island House has Starlink and ask for it to be turned off.

Lord Howe Island is an otherworldly place. The afternoon we freewheeled down to the base of Mt Lidgbird and Mt Gower confirmed this: a fierce burst of post-rain sunshine sent rainbows shooting across the famous peaks, while providence petrels – which nest nowhere else on Earth – swirled overhead. Lord Howe evolved out of step with the rest of the planet and in its gloriously lo-fi way it retrains you to be human. True enough, when we head back to Island House after our dark sky talk, we stoke the fire, dim the lights and watch nothing but the flickering flames.

A traveller’s checklist

Getting there

SmartLynx Australia operates daily flights from Sydney, with a flight time of under two hours. Eastern Air Services offers weekly flights and charters from Port Macquarie, the Gold Coast and Newcastle.

Staying there

Nightly rates at Island House start from $4260 for a single house and $8660 for a full-site buyout and include: custom island adventures such as guided hikes, snorkelling and diving;  dedicated equipment room for guided and self-directed exploration; in-house dining by chef Kimie Uemeto, who pairs freshly sourced local ingredients with Japanese culinary techniques; fully stocked pantry and bar; private picnics with mountain views or beach settings; complimentary hotel car transfers and airport pick-up and drop-off.

On the horizon

Lord Howe Island’s next Dark Sky Festival is planned for 16–23 May 2026. And stay tuned for news of Michael and Timmy Maxwell’s next accommodation project, set to launch in southern Tasmania.