Atong, Otillo and Sesame

Tell us about yourselves.

ATONG: My name is Atong, we are a new family. We have a one-and-a-half-year-old son named Sesame and we've become part of Nightingale because it’s almost a family tradition now - it’s like a cult [laughs]. Otillo’s mum lives close by in a Nightingale home and his brother’s family were also in a Nightingale. I’m an artist.

OTILLO: My name is Otillo, I’m a critical care nurse. I work in the trauma centre. I love my job. It’s so cool to work in a team that saves lives. It really is like witnessing miracles every day. Family has been our main focus for a year and a half. We wanted to find a community and somewhere to live, that’s a great place for Sesame to grow up. It’s really important to us.

ATONG: I’d been share house hopping, then Otillo and I lived together in Brunswick East and I worked my butt off for a couple of years doing art stuff. Otillo worked his butt off saving lives at the hospital and surfing. We eventually found ourselves in a position where we had money to be able to buy a home. We thought “oh my god, are we middle class now?”. We both grew up poor and never ever expected to be in a position to do this. It didn’t seem feasible to have a child in a lovely apartment in the middle of a city that we can afford. 

How was the move ?

ATONG: Having a baby is a great distraction when life throws you a big change. There isn’t enough time or energy to sweat it. Sesame is so social. It’s so nice when we are hanging laundry upstairs, he’ll go and interact with quite a few people, dogs as well. He’s so happy here. There are three parks within a very short walking distance. There are other kids in the building that we’ve befriended who are around the same age.

It’s such a nice place to have a little kid, a city slicker. I think Otillo would probably love to live by the coast and, I like that in theory, but being able to jump on the train, go to the Zoo or Museum in a couple of stops, and having access to art and galleries is so important. I am grateful to be able to offer that to a little baby.

How are you finding the community aspect of Nightingale Wurru wurru biik?

OTILLO: The community is so good. The chat is great. One of my neighbours and I are in competition with each other on who can be the best neighbour (although I'm not sure he knows there's a competition). He shared some herbs with everyone so I went all the way to a bay leaf tree that I know of in Brunswick East and brought back tonnes of bay leaves to share with everyone to try and outdo him [laughs].

Have you used the shared spaces yet?

ATONG: We’ve used them all!  My sister stayed in the guest house while auditioning for a show (she's Broadway coded). She absolutely loved it. There was heaps of space in there for her to rehearse.

OTILLO: Sesame loves the bath house - He’s basically going swimming in there. He’s a little frog. It’s one of his favourite things. I also love the rooftop west-facing lawn for dinner and to watch the sunset. It’s so beautiful.

Have you had friends come over yet?

ATONG: Yes, we had a dinner party last night with eight people. It was really fun. The first thing people say when they come here for the first time is how much bigger it is than they expected. It feels large, maybe because of the light.

Will you live here for a while?

OTILLO: We plan to live here for a long time. I never expected to own anything, so to have that privilege, it feels lucky, it’s hard to complain about things when it’s so good. We’ll invest and adapt the apartment as Sesame grows. As he gets older, if he has a lot of energy, we’ll just keep transforming the place like putting in a climbing wall if we need to. I’ve just been in Copenhagen and apartment living is so normal there. The way Australians think about their homes needs to shift. 

What is your favourite thing about this apartment?

ATONG: I love the apartment itself, but it's the location for me. I love it when friends come over and I’m able to say ‘oh there’s a lovely little wine bar close by’ and I take them to Nina’s or to Ima for lunch.  Casa Chino is just across the road with great cocktails and the food is excellent. The Argentinian cafe, Neruda’s, is just around the corner and they have the best steak sandwich. Everyone that works there is so chill.

It’s so easy to get into the city and I’m walking a lot more just because everything is so close.

OTILLO: My favourite part has to be the arched windows. The afternoon light streams in, casting beautiful arch-shaped light on the walls. I think his arched bedroom windows will be something Sesame remembers forever.