PHOTO: Tessa Terlouw and Lyra Rinaudo. Photo: Eliana Schoulal
Tessa Terlouw and Lyra Rinaudo met by chance in a bottle shop.
From strangers, they became roommates, best friends and, most recently, owners of a four-bedroom house in Coburg North.
The 33-year-olds share their new home with three others, splitting chores, cooking duties and care for Terlouw’s rescue dog, Frida. More recently, they’ve been each other’s lifelines as the coronavirus lockdown limited their social interaction with the outside world.
“It really lightens the load,” Terlouw says. “Everybody gets along really well, so it’s a bit of a family arrangement.”
As well as the economic benefit of shared living, it makes emotional sense to Terlouw, who works in sexual assault services, and Rinaudo, a GP, who have been living together more than six years.
The “platonic life partners” have supported each other through life’s thick and thin, from break-ups to tough days at work.
“When something has been hard, Lyra’s always around to support me,” Terlouw says.
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