This week on Home Life Series,, we spent time in Aireys Inlet with Richard Seymour of Australia's much-loved Mount Zero Olives. Together with his wife Sophie, Richard has created a home that reflects many of the same values that have guided the family business over the past three decades: quality, simplicity, sustainability and bringing people together around good food.
Surrounded by native bushland on Victoria's Surf Coast, the home was thoughtfully designed to sit gently within the landscape. Warm, welcoming and made for entertaining, it's a place where good food, good company and a strong connection to nature are part of everyday life.
From sustainable living and thoughtful design to the role food plays in creating connection, Richard reflects on the inspiration behind both his home and the business he has helped grow into one of Australia's most respected food brands.
Hi Richard, thank you so much for having us over. For those who are not familiar with Mount Zero, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about who lives here in your beautiful home with you?
Mount Zero is my family business that was started by my parents in the early 90’s. In the early days it was simply a small olive grove in the Grampians. Today, we are working with farmers across Victoria to produce a range of quality olives and extra virgin olive oil. My wife (Sophie) and I bought our house in Aireys Inlet in 2016. At the time, it was the classic 2 bedroom beach shack that was awesome for its simplicity, but became challenging when trying to host or entertain… 10 years on we have a new “simple” house that has hosting and entertaining built into its DNA.
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Your home is surrounded by the beautiful Aireys Inlet landscape. How has living near the coast shaped the way you design, live and slow down at home? How do you like to make the most of the surrounding landscape in your day-to-day life?
We wanted a house that would sit in the landscape rather than on or out of it. Low profile, following the contours of the slope and very functional. The house is clad in ironbark which is the endemic species. Keeping a low profile, surrounded by friends, family and native plants suits Soph and I to a t.
You’ve been part of Mount Zero since the early 2000s and helped shape it into one of Australia’s most respected food brands. What’s been the most rewarding part of that journey so far?
So many highlights and challenges.. Covid wasn’t anybody’s highlight, however, following 20+ years of investment in the business and brand, I found it incredibly rewarding when our customers responded to support us in such a positive and beautiful way when our restaurant business suddenly dried up. It was definitely a defining moment for me.
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There’s such a beautiful simplicity to both your products and your interiors. What makes a home feel good to you?
Great question. Quality ingredients, whether they be food or furniture shine best when not crowded out with too many other flavours or noise.
Sustainability sits at the centre of everything Mount Zero does. How does that carry through into your home life beyond the business itself?
We (Soph and I) have tried to make our Aireys home as passive as possible in terms of energy use - 15+m of North facing glass certainly helps. Whether building a house or shopping for produce, we try to be considered about what we buy, consume and collect and make decisions based on sustainability and quality. We are by no means purists or perfect.
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The kitchen feels like the heart of your home. What does an ideal long lunch or dinner at your place look like, who’s around the table and what are you cooking?
Hmm. Ideally it is a warm afternoon and we have too many friends around to sit down. Instead, the doors are pulled open wide and we are spilling into the garden and around the wood fired bbq. Food should be coming from the kitchen & bbq over 3 or 4 hours with no formal start, middle or end.
After nearly two decades with Mount Zero, what continues to inspire and excite you most within the business today?
We are really lucky to be working with food - olives and olive oil in particular. Something that is primary; primary produce, primary to our health and primary to almost every good recipe. I am inspired by the fact that we are producing and pedalling something that is good for people.
