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Inside

-----------10 Design divas Hugh and Gendy Parry Okeden have created an enviable work-life balance in a bucolic setting on Sydney’s outskirts.

18 A fruitful life Wayne and Marie Stewart had a brilliant location with an established orchard for their country retreat.

28 Thoroughly modern Moree After years of living in old homesteads, Barbara and Andrew Ball enjoy the mod cons that came with a move to town.

36 Pride of the Murray Historic Perricoota Station has a fresh lease on life thanks to owners Trevor and Anastasia O’Grady.

44 Keeping tradition Roz and Peter Seppelt respect age-old skills and a long history of hospitality at their South Australian home.

52 Preserving the past Country hospitality, resilience in the face of a crippling drought and Queensland pastoral.

62 Living history Six generations of the Hunt family have called Ivybrook Farm on SA’s Fleurieu Peninsula home.

74 Pioneers in paradise Two generations of the Peart family have devoted themselves to turning what was regarded as wasteland into a true Arcadia.

84 Cream of the crop The Crooke family produces some of Australia’s finest ice cream from a factory in a former milking shed on their dairy farm in the lush Kiewa Valley.

92 The heat is on With the colder weather now upon us, we look at some of the best ways to stay warm and toasty in our homes.

116 28

HOMES Australian Country 3

104

18

96

96 Set in stone Restoring the heritage homestead and splendid Edna Walling garden at Eurambeen has been a labour of love for a Victorian couple.

104 Home in the hills A nomadic couple is beckoned home from a dream post in Europe by the alluring hills and vast blue skies of Eumundi, on Queensland's idyllic Sunshine Coast.

116 Hidden depths An Adelaide Hills couple has turned a working man’s house and garden into a showpiece.

Subscribe today Receive four issues of Australian Country Homes plus a bonus copy of Bathroom Yearbook #24 for only $29.95. Turn to page 82 for details of this fantastic offer.

4 Australian Country HOMES

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From the editor

D

ear readers, There’s no denying it — we’re living in a challenging time. For many, 2020 has been a year of change, and not all of it positive. We’ve had to pivot and shift our plans to achieve our goals.

We’ve had to embrace alterations in a way we never have before.

It was with this thought in mind that I curated the features for this issue of Australian Country Homes. In the pages of this magazine you will find stories of homeowners who have altered their plans and sometimes their lives when an unexpected curveball was thrown their way. For some, it’s the story of a change in circumstance that resulted in a change of profession. For others, it’s the lure of a country lifestyle that prompted a new way of living. For others still, what seemed like a negative was turned into a positive.

Another common thread that sews these stories together is the sustainability of the properties listed. Some contain edible gardens; others are owned by producers, d farmers or winemakers. For many Australians, this need to connect with the land and live closely to it has never felt more relevant than it does today and if this rings true for you, I hope you find some inspiration in the stories featured.

Whatever your current situation, I hope you manage to sit back, relax and escape into this issue of Australian Country Homes.

Stay happy and stay healthy.

Best wishes, LAUREN CLARKE, editor

------- -

-------------

Editor Lauren Clarke Art Director Kate Podger Features Editor Cassandra Elliott Photography Ken Brass, Commission Studio, John Downs, Anastasia Kariofyllidis, Jeremy Simons, Ross Williams Contributors Kirsty McKenzie, Ken Brass, Tamara Simoneau, Anastasia Kariofyllidis, Ross Williams, Bronte Camilleri, Kim Selby, Georgina Poole

Chairman/CEO Prema Perera Publisher Janice Williams Chief Financial Officer Vicky Mahadeva Associate Publisher Emma Perera Circulation Business Development Manager Mark McTaggart C Creative Director Kate Podger Marketing & Acquisitions Manager Chelsea Peters To subscribe visit universalshop.com.au or ring 1300 303 414

Australian Country Homes (No 11) is published by Universal Magazines, Unit 5, 6-8 Byfield Street, North Ryde NSW 2113. Phone: (02) 9805 0399, Fax: (02) 9805 0714. Melbourne office, Suite 4, Level 1, 150 Albert Road, South Melbourne Vic 3205. Phone (03) 9694 6444 Fax: (03) 9699 7890.

Printed in Singapore by Times Printers, timesprinters.com. Distributed by Gordon and Gotch, Australia. Singapore — Car Kit Pte Ph 65 6 282 1960 magazines1source.com NZ Distributors: Needlecraft: (06) 356 4793, fax: (06) 355 4594, needlecraft.co.nz. Gordon and Gotch New Zealand, (09) 979 3018. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers. The publisher believes all the information supplied in this book to be correct

ISSN 1323-9708/2208-1100 Copyright © Universal Magazines MMXX ACN 003 026 944 umco.com.au

6 Australian Country HOMES

at the time of printing. They are not, however, in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. Prices, addresses and phone numbers were, after investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, up to date at the time of printing, but the shifting sands of time may change them in some cases. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements which appear in this publication comply with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the Australian Consumer Law. The responsibility must therefore be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication. While every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. * Recommended retail price

This magazine is printed on paper produced in a mill that meets Environmental Management System ISO 9001.

Please pass on or recycle this magazine.

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8 Australian Country HOMES

Step outside and embrace that cool winter air in a weatherappropriate pair of boots. The Launceston from Thomas Cook Boot & Clothing Co features a rubber upper and rubber outsole to keep you dry, with a material lining for warmth.

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These cushions from Ink & Spindle are simply to die for. We love the Silky Oak in Bushleaf and Moss and Quoll in Fennel, handprinted onto eco linen for a look that complements a variety of room styles.

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Relax into this Australian-made chair from Oz Design Furniture. The Kingston has a classic armchair shape with a rolled arm and curved back detail to enhance your sense of comfort.

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Dresses like these were made for cool weather. We adore the Florence dress from Smitten Merino, a design that not only looks amazing, but will keep you warm and snug thanks to the ethical and sustainable renewable Merino fabric used.

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Light your room with the ambient glow provided from the Mele. This tall table lamp features ash wood and ribbed frosted glass for a unique look that complements a country home.

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It’s time for tea with the gorgeous Rose Glass teapot from Australian artist and designer Cristina Re. This stylish vessel is a piece of vintageinspired fine glassware trimmed in 24-carat gold that pays homage to the glamour of a high tea experience in times gone by.

Complete with a removable glass infuser, the Rose Glass teapot has an 800mL capacity (perfect for four cups) and comes in a signature gift box. cristinare.com HOMES Australian Country 9

DESIGN DIVAS Hugh and Gendy Parry Okeden have created an enviable work-life balance in a bucolic setting on Sydney’s outskirts.

-------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KEN BR ASS

T

hey say to be born into the Turner family means to be born in the saddle. While that’s not strictly true, the Turner women all started riding almost as soon as they could walk. Gendy Parry Okeden, the oldest of the three Turner girls, started riding at the age of two and was back competing just three months after her twin boys, Sam and Tom, were born.

10 Australian Country HOMES

“My mother, Beth, is a veteran eventer and horse riding coach and trainer,” Gendy explains. “She grew up in New Zealand where everyone rode and hunted and then she met my father, Warwick, who was also into horses. They came back to his family farm at Oberon where, naturally, my sisters Nicky, Jamie and I grew up not really knowing that horse riding was optional.”

Gendy is married to timber master craftsman Hugh Parry Okeden, who is also an accomplished horseman and champion polo player. They live with the twins and their son, James, at Ukamurra, a 39-hectare farm on the Cattai Creek floodplain, part of the Hawkesbury River system on Sydney’s north-western perimeter. Over time, the Parry Okedens have painstakingly restored and extended an old stone cottage on the

HOMES Australian Country 11

These pages: A mural in the entrance area reflects Gendy and Hugh’s passion for horses; Gendy’s signature style is evident throughout; she favours a neutral palette.

A beautiful bay window frames views.

12 Australian Country HOMES

property as their home and Hugh has run his business, Giddiup, from a barn on the farm.

Giddiup specialises in unique residential and commercial hardwood timber projects, which only partly explains that he builds some of this country’s coolest barns, stables and post and rail fences, mostly from recycled timbers.

Sydneysiders who are familiar with the rustic landmark that is the hugely successful inner-Sydney cafe complex, Grounds of Alexandria, will instantly recognise his work. Hugh initially followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, making tables and furniture as a hobby, but then branched out into larger- scale construction. By the late 1990s his hobby had become a full-time occupation and he was on the brink of sending a container load of his work to the US, when all his samples, dreams and aspirations went up in smoke when fire destroyed his workshop at Mudgee.

Somehow he managed to pick himself up, and from the ashes of that enterprise he has developed into farm fencing and buildings, working from what must qualify as the country’s most photogenic workshop at Ukamurra. The nearby sprawling homestead, with its Paul Bangay landscaping, is the icing on a setting that defines bucolic bliss. However, it wasn’t always so. Gendy says that when they first spotted the five-roomed cottage, she was ›

HOMES Australian Country 13

When they first spotted the five-roomed cottage, Gendy was less than impressed.

“But somehow I was talked around and we teamed up with local designer David Jones to develop the house.”

less than impressed. “It had no internal bathroom and the whole place smelled of the goose that had taken up residence inside,” she says. “But somehow I was talked around and we teamed up with local designer David Jones to develop the house. I was lucky that David was happy to work with me, so I was able to work alongside him on the interiors. Then I ventured further afield, working on other places with him.”

14 Australian Country HOMES

After this, Gendy branched out into her own design business, co-founding with her long-time friend, Edwina Wills, Hickory Hill Home, an online sleep and leisurewear business. They specialise in classic poplin PJs for the whole family, cashmere and soft furnishings. From polka dots to plain white with piping trims and monograms, the brand oozes Gendy and Edwina’s personal style … understated and elegant. “I needed a business that allowed me to work

around the boys’ hours,” Gendy explains.

“As many women are discovering, online is great because you can work when you want to and our customers can shop when it suits them. It allows me to work from home and be there for the other jobs I have to fit into our family life.”

Gendy is the first to admit that the venture has been a steep learning curve.

“We were absolute newbies when we went to our first trade show in China,” ›

These pages: The kitchen opens to the living and dining area; Gendy co-manages her sleepwear company, Hickory Hill Home, from the property; a fireplace in the billiard room; Hugh runs Giddiup from a barn.

HOMES Australian Country 15

she recalls. “But we were just lucky that we found a company that was willing to take on a small order. Now we have developed relationships, we are able to manage most of the day-to-day business

by Skype and email. Edwina looks after product development and I’m responsible for marketing. We’ve been able to grow incrementally because the business had to stand on its own legs from the outset. The beauty of an online business is it’s portable and you can do it from pretty much anywhere.”

While Gendy says that neither she nor Hugh have much time for horse riding these days, they do keep one foot in the equestrian world by attending local polo games and watching Beth and Nicky compete in events. When the boys were headed for high school, the Parry Okedens reluctantly made the decision to put Ukamurra on the market and move closer to the city. “But I have no doubt we will do it all again,” Gendy adds cheerfully.

“Hugh is already looking in the Southern Highlands for somewhere to relocate Giddiup. Wherever that is, I’m sure there will be another renovation and another adventure.” ACH This page: The master bedroom; the dressing room lends an opulent air; the boys’ bedrooms are in the homestead’s original section.

16 Australian Country HOMES

This page: The original stone cottage has been sympathetically extended; the sprawling homestead is now surrounded by landscaping by Victorian designer Paul Bangay.

HOMES Australian Country 17

A FRUITFUL LIFE Wayne and Marie Stewart had a brilliant location with an established orchard for their country retreat. All that was needed was for their architect son to complete the picture.

--------------------

by TAMAR A SIMONEAU, photography ANASTASIA K ARIOFYLLIDIS

S

ome of us just aren’t wired to live in suburbia, with fences for privacy and neighbours within earshot. It can work for a time, but the call of the country seems to always prevail. Wayne and Marie Stewart first bought their patch of rural paradise in 1980. In the lofty green hills of Peachester, overlooking Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, it was untamed bush — wild and rambling.

Teachers by trade, with two boys in tow and dreams of a new home and flourishing orchard driving them forward, they began the mammoth task ahead of them.

“We cleared some areas including a road in,” Wayne recalls.

“Then we built a shed near where we lived in our caravan for 18 months while we built a house.”

18 Australian Country HOMES

HOMES Australian Country 19

These pages: The Stewarts have owned the hinterland property for more than 30 years; the garden is a source of year-round delight; the orchard supplies many sub-tropical treats; the house was located to capture the great views;

In time, they planted custard apple, lychee and avocado trees, and put a dam and irrigation in place. Their boys soaked up the country life, attending the small local school and riding their motorbikes in nearby pine forest.

But as they grew, the family gravitated to the coast, where friends, sports and high school were much closer to hand. Wayne and Marie decided to push pause on their farm life, sell their home and some land around it, and keep the remaining 44 acres containing the orchard and dam. Twelve years later, with Wayne newly retired, it was time to head for the hills once more. › 20 Australian Country HOMES

Choosing a site on the undulating farm was a three-way decision, and in the end a ridge overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains and the sea beyond was a clear winner.

“By this time the orchards were overgrown with lantana to such an extent that no trees could be seen and it was impenetrable,” Wayne says. “We moved our caravan onto the block next to the shed and again lived there while we cleared the lantana and saved what trees were still alive.”

It was almost like starting over again. They needed to build another home, but this time around they had an advantage.

“Our younger son Tim was now an architect, about to be married and living in Brisbane,” Wayne says. “He really wanted to design a house that he felt would enhance and suit the

block. Having lived there for 12 years, he had a real feel for the situation.”

It was Marie who suggested architecture as a potential career for Tim when he couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do at the end of school. She’d remembered him drawing little rooms and sketches as a three- or four-year-old and thought it might be a good fit. Years later, his parents gave him another gift.

“They gave me an opportunity that no-one else would have been prepared to offer to someone so young with no prior projects in their folio,” Tim says. “The house was really a launching pad HOMES Australian Country 21

These pages: Son Tim designed the house to capture views of the Glasshouse Mountains. The sub-tropical climate allows all manner of plants, including flowering gingers, cordylines and heliconias to thrive.

into private practice for me and continues to be an inspiration for many people to call me to enquire about a new home.”

Choosing a site on the undulating farm was a three-way decision, and in the end a ridge overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains and the sea beyond was a clear winner. The next challenge was the budget.

“I think Mum and Dad thought that it wasn’t a very good commission for me, being just a low-budget retirement house for › 22 Australian Country HOMES

them,” Tim says. “But, of course, every project is what you make of it and with a location like theirs it was always going to be pretty great with a bit of care.”

Tim designed the house around the breathtaking vista so that the master bedroom, living, dining, outdoor entertaining and guest bedroom all share the same stunning outlook. The entrance is via a wooden boardwalk flanked by tropical gardens, with a step up over a little bridge brimming with citrus-orange goldfish. Once you

peel your eyes away from the bolts of colour beneath your feet, an expanse of Aussie bushland falls away in front, with sky-high gums and brushstrokes of golden sand off in the distant blue.

“When the house was finished we could not believe how well it utilised the assets of the block and how well it fitted our lifestyle,” Marie says. “We had not realised just how lovely it would be when we were in the design stage.” The home fits neatly into the natural environment, with a nod to sustainable living.

HOMES Australian Country 23

These pages: The bedroom is another modern ode to nature; even the bathroom enjoys views; backlit leaf; Taura stripey throw from Domayne Homewares and Roofus Australia Bottlebrush and Flowering Gum cushions from Circa70

“Tim made a point of displaying the blackbutt timber in the house as it was cleared from the block and cut on-site by a mobile mill,” Wayne explains. “Some was taken away to be dried and planed and some was made into flooring with the assistance of a friend who owned a saw mill.”

And as for the orchard, it’s flourishing under Wayne and Marie’s constant care and attention. Those original custard apple and avocado trees are bursting with fruit.

“For our own use we grow mango, banana, lychee, three types of orange, pomelo, mandarin, ruby grapefruit, kaffir lime, lemonade and lemon,” Marie says. ”As well, we have starfruit, olives, kerry-berry, macadamia nut, jackfruit, mulberry, tropical plum, peach and nectarine, vegetables, chillies and herbs.”

As a former home economics teacher and keen amateur chef, Marie’s cup runneth over. “I use everything we grow and try to keep things simple to enjoy the fresh flavours,” she says. Her 24 Australian Country HOMES

specialties are homemade lemon butter, custard apple parfait and chilli jam.

Wayne’s specialty might be mowing. “I mow about 15 acres,” he reveals. “It takes longer than expected because of mowing around and under so many trees. Some is slashed with my tractor but most is mown with ride-on mowers. The section that is mown the most often and best is my practice golf range!”

The couple love to travel and have journeyed as far as Canada and Alaska, but say coming home is one of the best parts of any trip.

“It’s always great when we get home to walk around the garden and see what is new,” Marie says. “It feels great to stroll through the peaceful orchards where we see wallabies and so many birds and sit on our deck and look at the beautiful view. We feel that we still think it is the best place to live and hope we can stay for a while longer yet.” ACH

HOMES Australian Country 25

Marie’s Custard Apple Parfait In a wine glass, layer freshly scooped, ripe custard apple flesh (you can seed or not), dashes of lemon butter (homemade is best — see simple recipe below), and whipped cream. Before you get quite to the top of the glass, add a scoop of ice cream, another touch of lemon butter and a strawberry or kiwifruit slice for colour. Serve the glass on a plate, especially if you have left the seeds in the fruit. The sweetness of the custard apple is off-set by the tang of the lemon butter.

Marie’s Home-made Lemon Butter Melt 90g of butter in a large jug in a microwave. Add 1 cup of sugar and 3 whole eggs and beat together with a whisk. Then add juice of 2 lemons and rind of 1 and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes on high, stopping every 30 seconds to beat again. It will come together and thicken when ready. If lemons are very big it needs an extra 30 seconds. Makes 2 to 3 jars and keeps in the fridge for about a month.

Marie’s Chilli Jam In a food processor chop 700g tomatoes, 700g red capsicum, 200g mild chillies, 2 cloves garlic. Bring to the boil in large pan and add 800g of raw sugar and 250mL of red wine vinegar. Then simmer for around 3 hours. Fill jam into small warmed bottles. It will keep indefinitely.

26 Australian Country HOMES

This page: The garden and orchard merge with the surrounding bush and Wayne regularly mows about 15 acres; Marie harvesting fruit from the orchard.

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THOROUGHLY MODERN MOREE After years of living in old homesteads, Barbara and Andrew Ball enjoy the mod cons that came with a move to town.

-------------------by GEORGINA POOLE, photography KEN BR ASS

HOMES Australian Country 29

A

These pages: Andrew and Barb in the living area; an outdoor entertaining spot with summer shade; classic black and white tiles on a side verandah.

30 Australian Country HOMES

western NSW farmer who can talk about furniture designer Mark Tuckey as confidently, and passionately, as about agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere, Moree’s Andrew Ball is fascinatingly contrary. Pinterest, his go-to for inspiration, reveals expertly curated folders on architecture and design, seamlessly coexisting with pins on rugby and cars.

His large farmer’s hands swipe, and the fact that he even has a Pinterest account speaks volumes. “My mother had a beautiful eye for design and style,” he reflects. “It’s quite amazing — you never forget those things that were ingrained into your childhood.”

Nestled in a leafy local street, Andrew and his wife, Barbara, have restored one of the town’s most stately properties, the type passers-by crane their necks at in anticipation of a glimpse beyond the perfectly manicured hedges and topiaries.

The unusual, yet sophisticated, original rendered cement façade defies any specific era or style. While the house dates from the 1920s, its timeless appeal provides a point of difference in a region renowned for weatherboard homesteads.

“We always lived in old homes where the doors wouldn’t open and shut, let alone lock,” Andrew says. “So, more than anything, we were looking for something that had solid foundations.” After a lifetime of moves, from Jerilderie in the Riverina, East Gresford in the Hunter Valley through to Burren Junction on the NSW North West Plains, they yearned for something to sink their renovating teeth into.

“In the early years, Andrew was a company overseer,” Barb explains. “So homes, and everything in them — right down to the linen — were always part of our package, and we moved frequently. We were living in the Riverina and quite out of the blue, Andrew announced that he refused to spend his whole life not owning his own bed. I was six months pregnant with our second son, Cambel, with 12-month-old son Hugh in tow, and we promptly set off to Canberra working as fencers, attempting to gain an interest in property of our own.”

Their dream was realised in the Hunter Valley, where, Barbara fondly reflects, they were “extremely fortunate to have partnered with two exceptional people in the region to help get our start”. ›

HOMES Australian Country 31

These pages: A blazing fire in the open living space; blonde timber furniture offsets white walls; ceiling-to-floor windows flood the enclosed verandahs with light.

32 Australian Country HOMES

However, a born-and-bred Gular girl, her compass was set west, and the family, now including third son Duncan, eventually settled at Gorian, near Burren Junction, for the next 26 years.

Their ultimate path to Moree many years ago echoed this adventurous spirit. “The inevitable day came when we decided to leave our sons to farm independently,” Barbara explains. “We had our checklist — river frontage, tennis court, pool and definitely a lifestyle block out of town — but, in hindsight, we were probably being frightfully ambitious.”

The couple spent the next 18 months scouring the state’s north-west, finally settling on the Moree property. While it lacked river frontage, and the neighbours were closer than envisaged, the house ticked plenty of boxes.

“The boys rang and said ‘Mum, you better have a look at the trees’,’’ Barb says.

“After a lifetime of planting trees only to move again as they were establishing, the beautiful canopies of claret ash, jacaranda and ficus were very appealing.”

With a streetscape that belies the property’s generous 1.8 acres (half a

hectare), the sprawling garden is an unexpected treasure trove of delights.

Repeat plantings of clipped Teucrium, lilly pilly and Murraya and avenues of Manchurian pear complement a seemingly never-ending expanse of perfectly manicured lawn — with many grandchildren, the Balls are conscious of providing enough lawn to kick a footy! Outbuildings, including a much-frequented guesthouse, dot the landscape, while a maze of bougainvillealaden pergolas provides bursts of colour and structure.

The couple share a love of gardening, although Barb laughs that Andrew is still a farmer at heart. “I grow hedges so he has something to trim,” she says.

A sunny nook on the verandah bears tell-tale coffee-ring stains, while a paved courtyard, protected under a mature Chinese elm, begs al fresco evenings under the big Moree sky. “We’re definitely outdoors people, and love entertaining,” Barb says. “So we’ve made sure spaces capture winter sun and summer shade.”

Despite finding this secluded oasis, town life took some adjustment. “I cried ›

“I cried the whole trip to town when we moved.

It was a new community and a new chapter and the first time a move felt hard — but after 12 years I am very settled and really love our life here.”

HOMES Australian Country 33

This page: Verandah musing; after years in the dusty bush, a neutral palette is a luxury; a guest bedroom with garden views;

34 Australian Country HOMES

the whole trip to town when we moved,” Barb admits. “It was a new community and a new chapter and the first time a move felt hard — but, after many years, I am very settled and really love our life here.”

Both highly involved in previous communities, the couple launched into local life, and Barbara found that “acquaintances soon became genuine friends”. Andrew, on the other hand, found their new urban status instantly appealing. “I love camping and travel and now we’re free to do those things,” he says. “After so many years of isolation, just ducking down the street to get a coffee is pretty exciting.”

Yet the home’s dark and dated interior did little to alleviate that hemmedin feeling the couple both felt after a lifetime on the farm. With Barb’s yearning for neutrals as “white wasn’t so practical out west”, walls were removed to create open living spaces and the whole interior was painted white to create space and light. “Even now people say we need more colour,” she says. “I’m not convinced as I just love the white.”

Ceiling-to-floor French windows flood enclosed verandahs with light, while a thoughtfully selected collection of blonde timber antiques mingles comfortably with pops of modernism.

“We lived with heirlooms and handme-down furniture forever, so this house was an opportunity to buy

all-new furniture,” Barb says. “Although the thought of spending money on furniture mortified me.”

Self-described as extremely fussy — “I have a very definite idea of what I like” — there is a glint of excitement in Andrew’s eye as he describes his preferred style: moderate minimalism.

“I love modern, but it has to be done with taste and style; there is a line,” he says.

Such is his interest, a number of pieces have been specifically commissioned. A custom-poured concrete outdoor setting, textural and raw, is a case in point. “We didn’t want timber,” he explains. “While modern for this house, the concrete provides a stylish focal point at the same time as withstanding the harsh Moree elements.” Acknowledging that this home does not lend itself to overt modernism, a recent purchase from Noosa has allowed the Balls to experiment.

“It’s been lots of fun, but my dream is still to build a house from scratch,” Andrew says. “It would be very modern, based around function, simplicity, air and light. It’s an appreciation developed after years of living in old homesteads.

They are full of character, yet often quite impractical.” And so, for a couple who retired more than a decade ago, it seems like there’s little chance of the Balls slowing down anytime soon. ACH

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36 Australian Country HOMES

PRIDE OF THE MURRAY Historic Perricoota Station has a fresh lease on life thanks to owners, Trevor and Anastasia O’Grady.

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by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KEN BR ASS

HOMES Australian Country 37

L

These pages: Perricoota station is a photographer’s delight; Anastasia and Trevor O’Grady have big plans for the property’s restoration; the former packing shed is now a function venue; paddle boats berthed at Echuca.

38 Australian Country HOMES

ocal lore around the twin towns of Echuca-Moama on the Murray River has it that you can trace the fluctuating fortunes of Australia’s rural industry through the buildings on Perricoota Station. There’s the imposing double-storeyed, nine-bedroom brick homestead, built in the 1860s as the HQ for pastoralist James Maiden, who had established a 120,000-acre [48,562-hectare] sheep and cattle grazing property on the NSW side of the Murray in 1843. The sprawling shearing shed, although no longer part of the station holding, also dates from this time, when the economy was booming thanks to the gold rushes and the wool industry, and wages for working men reached world-record levels.

Perricoota was sold in 1865 to wool brokers Kirk, Row and Goldsborough, founding fathers of what would become agents Goldsborough Mort, which today trades as Elders Limited. They in turn sold the station to Robertson and Wagner in the late 1860s.

The new owners, who were partners in Cobb & Co, used the property to breed their coach horses and the voluminous stables, complete with detached kitchen and sleeping quarters, date from this period. Hay crops were also added to the station’s output and the fodder was shipped north to Hay by paddle steamer or barge. In the 1870s, portions of the property were sold off for wheat farming. The drought of 1899 was the end ›

HOMES Australian Country 39

These pages: Many outbuildings await restoration; citrus trees recall the glory days; the homestead dates from the 1860s; although no longer part of the property, the shearing shed is a local landmark.

40 Australian Country HOMES

of the good times for the partners, however, as the cost of feeding 100,000 sheep and all the horses was beyond them. They sold 72,642 acres (29,400 hectares) for £250,000 to world-famous Merino breeders F.S. Falkiner & Sons, who during the next decade spent more than £1 million pounds acquiring a vast swathe of Riverina properties to complement their original Boonoke station at Deniliquin. But even the Falkiners couldn’t make a go of Perricoota, as their sheep had problems with foot rot. In 1911 the station was sold to Watson Brothers, stock agents of Bendigo. They paid almost double what the Falkiners had — £6-10 an acre — for 25,000 acres (10,117 hectares) and started a family connection with the property that would last for more than 80 years. When the Moama-Balranald railway was completed, the property was further subdivided, but Rupert Watson and his sons retained 10,000 acres (4046 hectares).

The Watsons planted the first citrus trees on Perricoota in 1913 and during the next two decades, 13,000 trees were added to what would become the largest citrus orchard in the southern hemisphere. The citrus-packing shed and remnant orange, lemon and grapefruit trees are reminders of this development. By the 1990s there were 14,500 trees delivering up to 1200 tonnes (60,000 cartons) of fruit to markets all over Australia. In addition, they ran Shorthorn cattle, Merino sheep and grew grain for feed supplements for their stock. By 2010, when Mark Evans bought the station, the citrus operation had ceased. But since Trevor and ›

HOMES Australian Country 41

These pages: The slow-combustion cooker dates from the homestead’s early days; soaring ceilings in the dining room; tessellated tiles make a statement in the entrance hallway; an archive of letters.

42 Australian Country HOMES

Anastasia O’Grady took over, the packing shed has been given a new lease on life, this time as a function centre and restaurant.

Trevor, who candidly admits he bought Perricoota almost on impulse, has big plans for the property. “I grew up enjoying water-skiing holidays with my family on the Murray,” he explains. “I’ve always wanted to come back here, and when I chanced across the real estate ad on the internet, I knew it was meant to be. It was enough to make us relocate from Perth and now we are gradually working through a to-do list to restore the property to her former glory.”

With his long background in the mining industry, Trevor admits that his only previous foray into hospitality was when he briefly owned a pub, and he vowed never to repeat the experience. “I’m a self-made businessman and I know an opportunity when I see one,” he says. “The district was crying out for a largish functions venue and there’s enough history here to keep everyone from wedding photographers to holiday makers happy. We’ll take it one step at a time, restore the homestead so it can accommodate about 20 guests, perhaps add chalets on the riverfront and maybe some glamping tents. I’d love to put in a golf course and then there are all the water sports on the Murray. I’d also like to see paddle steamers bringing passengers from Echuca like they did in the old days. There are so many outbuildings on the property, it could be years before we have them all up and running, but we’re here for the long haul and can’t wait to see the grand old girl returned to glory. It’s pretty hectic at the moment but eventually I hope we get around to water skiing once again.” ACH

HOMES Australian Country 43

A water feature greets visitors to Grand Cru Estate.

44 Australian Country HOMES

KEEPING TRADITION Roz and Peter Seppelt respect age-old skills and a long history of hospitality at their South Australian home.

by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography ROSS WILLIAMS, styling BRONTE CAMILLERI

HOMES Australian Country 45

T These pages: Peter and Roz met through horses and riding remains a keen interest for Roz; Roz and Peter continue a wine industry tradition established in 1851; the tower is a landmark feature of Grand Cru Estate; a talented stonemason, Peter has restored or built most of the estate’s buildings.

46 Australian Country HOMES

he plan, as much as Roz and Peter Seppelt had one, was to take Peter’s family’s hobby farm and transform it into a business.

But as is always the case, there were a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. Nonetheless, after more than a decade of hard slog, the Seppelts now have an enterprise that both perpetuates Peter’s family tradition of hospitality and takes it to a whole new level.

Peter is a fifth-generation scion of the house of Seppelt, which was founded in 1851 when Jospeh Seppelt, a migrant merchant from Prussia (now Poland) arrived in Australia and established a vineyard and winery called Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley. Today the Canary Island date palm-lined driveway leading to the splendid bluestone winery buildings are a landmark on the Barossa landscape as iconic as the Para liqueur ports, sparkling Shiraz and fino sherry for which the label is famous. However, the family partnership was dissolved in 1984 and Peter’s parents moved on to a 300-acre (122-hectare) farm, just six kilometres from Mount Pleasant.

From there, Peter went on to study wine at Roseworthy Agricultural College, now part of the University of Adelaide.

On holidays from school and college, Peter threw himself into helping his parents restore a derelict 1889 bluestone homestead ›

HOMES Australian Country 47

These pages: The Seppelts have turned the dam into a picturesque lake; a boots ’n’ all approach to gardening; there are examples everywhere of Peter’s amazing stonemason skills; Roz and Peter run cattle and sheep as well as the vineyard.

48 Australian Country HOMES

on the farm. Peter found he had a gift for DIY and, guided by a local German-trained master stonemason and builder, he developed considerable building skills of his own. By the time of his first marriage he had thrown himself into converting the property’s meathouse and cellar into a cottage for his young family. Between times, Peter made wine from fruit from the family’s 30 acres (12 hectares) of vines, which include the Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet and Shiraz for which the Eden Valley region is famous.

Meanwhile, Tasmanian-born Roz attended agricultural college at Glen Ormiston in Victoria and, after graduation, secured jobs in Penola and Naracoorte in South Australia. Always a keen horse rider, Roz met Peter when she came to Mount Pleasant to compete in an event. The rest, as they say, is history and just over a decade ago, they were married on the farm.

“I married the children as well,” Roz says matter-of-factly. “Melinda is a chef and Tristan has trained in property development, but we are very much a family unit and everything we do is aimed at working together as a family. Since we took over from Peter’s parents in 2006, we’ve turned paddocks into gardens and the dam into a lake. Everything we’ve done has been hands-on and largely thanks to Peter’s passion for building.”

Today Grand Cru Estate is a working winery with a weekend restaurant based around a wood-fired pizza oven and a farm for black-faced Suffolk sheep. The original ›

HOMES Australian Country 49

This page: Ripple iron features in the bar; shoe lasts make an intriguing wall feature; wood-fired ovens make perfect pizzas for friends and family; an abundance of colour floods the garden.

50 Australian Country HOMES

homestead is now also the perfect self-catering accommodation venue for up to three couples.

Pretty much everything has been made or renovated by Peter. “He’s put his heart and soul into the place,” Roz says. “Anything that isn’t original has been built by Peter … and anything old will also have received his attention … the restaurant and cellar door, the tower, the homestead and the cottage.”

Visitors to the homestead in winter arrive to blazing fires, breakfast and, if required, dinner provisions in the fridge, and estategrown and bottled wines. “They need never venture off the property if they don’t want to,” Roz says. “But if they do, we are strategically positioned about 20 minutes to Angaston in the heart of the Barossa Valley, the same distance to the Adelaide Hills and also to the Murray River.”

On the farm there are Hattie the Highland cow, Daisy the Hereford, the sheep and horses to provide photo opportunities for visitors. The Golden Retrievers, Malt, Maddie and Maisie, are part of the reception committee, and Roz’s “girls”, the hens, provide the wonderful eggs that are part of the breakfast hamper.

“We love to showcase everything that is great about our region and encourage our guests to help themselves to the vegie and herb garden and to visit the Saturday farmers’ market in Mount Pleasant,” Roz says. “The best part is when visitors arrive on Friday looking a bit stressed and tired of life, and leave two days later looking like completely different people.”

In an unexpected twist, the Seppelts have now developed a bit of a sideline in workshops showing people how Peter has achieved all the renovations and improvements. “Everyone loves pizza, particularly from Peter’s wood-fired ovens, so they want to know how to build one,’’ Roz explains. ‘‘Plus he shows people how to build with stone and countless other building skills. It’s one of those turns of events that we could never have predicted, but it does feel very right to be sharing age-old skills and traditions.” ACH

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Nogo emblazoned on the homestead’s roof is an aid for pilots.

PRESERVING THE PAST Country hospitality, resilience in the face of a crippling drought and Queensland pastoral and bushranging history meet at Nogo Station.

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by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KEN BR ASS

52 Australian Country HOMES

The shearing shed is part of the station tour.

HOMES Australian Country 53

These pages: One of many relics of Nogo Station’s past; the verandah; gun shearer and wool classer Deanna Johnston shows her skill; sheep in the pen waiting for shearing; the property is littered with gorgeous reminders of a life gone by.

D

iversify or die is the mantra of business in the bush these days, but Richard and Marisse Kinnon have taken it to the next level in the central-western Queensland town of Longreach. Richard, who grew up on a cattle property at Clermont, and Marisse, who came from a pineapple farm near Rockhampton, were no strangers to the vicissitudes of country life. Yet when they decided to branch out on their own in 2001 and bought a property at Morella midway between Longreach and Winton, they walked straight into a drought that has pretty much endured ever since. With the futures of their now adult children, Abigail, Jeremy and Lane, as well as their own survival to consider, the Kinnons realised that they needed to generate some off-farm income to keep going.

The Cobb & Co stage coach network, which began in goldrush Victoria and transported passengers and goods all through country Victoria, NSW and Queensland, had long fascinated Richard, so in the early 2000s he put a tentative toe in the tourism industry water by starting rides around Longreach in a horse-drawn coach.

Encouraged by the reception, he and Marisse went on to open a gift shop called the Station Store, and the Welcome Home cafe, both located in a historic pub building in the centre of town. Next came paddleboat river cruises on the Thomson River, with campfire dinners and local history documentary screenings in an outdoor cinema on the riverbank. The Kinnons took the complete plunge into hospitality in 2012, when they started building self-catering cabins and lodges on the outskirts of town, conveniently located within cooee of Longreach’s two major attractions, the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Qantas Founders’ Museum.

Their diversifications completed a full circle in 2013 when they purchased the 32,128-hectare Nogo Station, which is about 15 kilometres north of Longreach.

While Nogo is a working sheep and cattle property and home to Abigail and her station contractor husband, Reuben Mickan and › 54 Australian Country HOMES

HOMES Australian Country 55

These pages: Brass bed in a guest bedroom; the entrance hall contains many items from the history of the Kinnon family and Nogo Station; an old-world decorating style complements this gorgeous building.

their daughter, Laura, it is also a final piece in the local history puzzle the family has been building for the past decade.

As Abigail explains, Nogo is a living piece of Longreach history, a remnant block of the once vast Bowen Downs station established by explorers William Landsborough and Nat Buchanan in 1861. By 1870 the property sprawled across 1,744,000 acres (almost 706,000 hectares) and earned its place in legend when cattle duffer Harry Redford stole a huge mob of cattle and drove them to South Australia for sale (see breakout). Ruins of the stockyards where Redford kept some of the cattle still exist on Nogo.

By the 1880s Bowen Downs was subdivided and one of the larger blocks became Mount Cornish station, which stretched from present-day Muttaburra almost 100km south. In 1890 John Peters bought 5000 acres (2023 hectares) of Mount Cornish, which he named Nogo. The History of Queensland: Its People and Industries notes that Peters settled there with his wife and family and battled “with nature through seasons of flood and drought, which brought dispiriting and heartbreaking consequences in their train”.

“Nonetheless he persevered,” Abigail says.

“By adding other parcels of land, he built Nogo up to 20,000 acres (8093 hectares).

Part of the property was known as the long reach of the Thomson River, which is how Longreach got its name.”

In 1911, Nogo was sold to William Avery, who crowned his land with what was regarded as the most modern homestead in the district — a double-storeyed, nineroomed edifice surrounded by verandahs and complete with a servants’ wing and detached kitchen. Regular readers of Australian Country might recognise the homestead’s profile as it was designed by the same architect who created Rosemary and Warwick Champion’s Longway homestead, which featured in the 15.3 issue of AC. During prosperous times in the pastoral industry, Nogo would have been a hive of activity, with jackaroos, station hands, household staff and casual employees all breathing energy into the land, homestead and its outbuildings. › 56 Australian Country HOMES

HOMES Australian Country 57

These pages: The kitchen is in a separate wing of the homestead; china on display in the living room; a needlework book is among many artefacts on display; preserves on the shelf.

“In a good season, Nogo runs around 1000 cattle and 4000 sheep,” Abigail explains.

“Unfortunately we haven’t had one of those for almost six years, so at the moment we are pretty much destocked, except for a few cattle and sheep we are keeping for some shearing demonstrations.”

Therein lies the key to Nogo’s survival.

Twice a week during the outback tourist season (Easter to October), Abigail and her family welcome visitors to the homestead for a taste of station life. They tour the homestead, roam the grounds, and climb all over the many retired vehicles that are dotted around the grounds and in the garage. With brother Jeremy at the wheel of the coach that brings the visitors from Longreach, they take in a water run, checking the sources that are essential to stock

58 Australian Country HOMES

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These pages: Abigail’s grandmother’s Prized Orange Cake is a winner at smoko; Abigail with her popular cake.

Prized orange cake Serves eight 1½ cups self-raising flour 1 cup white sugar 125g butter, softened 2 eggs ½ cup milk Grated rind of 1 orange

Orange icing 1¾ cups icing sugar 2 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon powdered milk 2 teaspoons orange juice 2 teaspoons softened butter

Grease and line a 20cm square cake pan. Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until the mixture becomes pale (about 3 minutes). Spoon into a prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer tests clean. Remove from oven, allow to stand for several minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely. Ice with orange icing.

To make orange icing, combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat until well combined. Add a little milk if the icing is too thick, or icing sugar if it’s too thin.

60 Australian Country HOMES

survival, visit the Redford cattle yards and head to the shearing shed, where gun shearer Deanna Johnson demonstrates the time-honoured tradition of giving a sheep a haircut.

Back at the homestead, Abigail proves she is no slouch in the kitchen as she serves smoko fit for a worker just in from a hard morning in the paddocks. Big pots of tea and coffee are accompanied by biscuits, slices, cakes and hearty sandwiches with meat and pickles, all made from family recipes and ingredients grown on the farm or in its vegie garden and orchard.

“In days gone by, everyone had relatives in the country,” Abigail observes. “These days that’s not the case and having people visit Nogo is a great way to build connection between city and country. It’s also keeping us viable and allowing us to continue to live in a part of the world we love. It’s a privilege to be able to share our lifestyle with others.” ACH For more information on Nogo tours visit outbackpioneers.com.au

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LIVING HISTORY Six generations of the Hunt family have called Ivybrook Farm on SA’s Fleurieu Peninsula home.

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by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography ROSS WILLIAMS, styling BRONTE CAMILLERI

62 Australian Country HOMES

The stone barn was added in 1898.

HOMES Australian Country 63

I

f the walls could talk in the homestead on David and Cheryl Hunt’s Ivybrook Farm at South Australia’s Maslin Beach, they’d be telling tales that go back almost as far as the foundation of the colony.

They’d doubtless recall the arrival of the Reverend Charles Hall, a congregational minister for the parish of Aldinga and how he moved into a two-bedroomed cottage with an underground cellar in 1851. He then set about extending the house with a second storey and an outdoor wash house and man’s room. It’s not known what the somewhat dour-looking gentleman would have made of his neighbours, John Reynell and his former employee, Thomas Hardy, who had planted the first grapes in the district in the 1840s and thus founded the now celebrated McLaren Vale wine region. They’d tell how the property passed to the cattle, sheep and cereal crop farming Valentine family, who in 1898 added a stone stable, which later became a shearing shed and is now a barn where receptions and functions are held. They’d tell how a four-bedroomed homestead was built alongside the original cottage, providing added accommodation for Peter and Ruth Hunt when they took over the farm with their six children.

They’d explain how the two dwellings became one when the Hunts wrapped a big protective verandah around them, and how the farm passed through the generations until David Hunt and his brothers took over the property as the fourth generation of the Hunt family to live there. Cheryl and David’s now adult children, Nick, Peter and Amanda, make up the fifth generation and Nick’s daughter, Georgia, was the first born for the sixth.

These days, the Hunt brothers and their families each have 40 acres of the original farm, as do their parents, Keith and Fay. While each family runs their property individually, they have all planted vines and Keith also keeps beehives on the four blocks.

“My family came to Aldinga Beach from England in 1976,” Cheryl explains. “I was 11 at the time and it was a great lifestyle move for us. Eventually I married David and we moved to Ivybrook in 1983. David › 64 Australian Country HOMES

These pages: The Hunt family has owned the Maslin Beach property for six generations; David and Cheryl with David’s parents Keith and Fay and their son, Nick; Keith keeps bees on the farms; an alpaca minds sheep near the vineyard.

HOMES Australian Country 65

The stone stable has been restored as a boutique function centre.

› 66 Australian Country HOMES

“David had worked both on and off the farm before we married and one of those jobs was at d’Arenberg winery, which is where he discovered his passion for wine.”

HOMES Australian Country 67

These pages: A local stonemason has restored the stables; local stone is great for temperature control for cellaring; milk urns and other relics add character; the stables is a small functions space.

had worked both on and off the farm before we married and one of those jobs was at d’Arenberg winery, which is where he discovered his passion for wine.”

It was almost inevitable, therefore, that David and Cheryl would plant their own vines. In the mid-’90s they planted five hectares of Shiraz and followed that up with a further three hectares of Shiraz. Some of this has been grafted to Touriga Nationale, a Portuguese red variety, and a hectare of Tempranillo and Mourvèdre have been added. “At first we sold all our fruit to Hardys,” Cheryl says.

“More recently, as we’ve moved towards biodynamic and organic principles, we’ve been selling to Wirra Wirra, because their wine-making philosophy is aligned with ours. Since 2008, we’ve kept back small amounts to make our own wine.

Now our son, Nick, who has worked at other wineries and done several vintages overseas, has taken over as winemaker and we have built our cellar door.”

Ever mindful of the need to diversify to shore up the business, the Hunts added a self-catering cottage that accommodates four in 2009. They have also converted the barn into a small wedding and function centre. “We were lucky to find local stonemason Rick Wheatley to restore the building,” Cheryl says. “We’re also fortunate to have joined forces with › 68 Australian Country HOMES

They have also converted the barn into a small wedding and function centre and were lucky to ďŹ nd a local stonemason, Rick Wheatley, to restore the building.

HOMES Australian Country 69

Adelaide caterer Cindy Westphalen, of Cindy’s Classic Gourmet. Destination weddings are increasingly popular these days and McLaren Vale offers the great advantage of being less than an hour’s drive from Adelaide.”

For those who choose to extend their stay in the region, there are many options.

Wine tasting, of course, heads the list, and many of the wineries also offer great dining experiences as well. “d’Arry’s Verandah is a great venue at d’Arenberg winery, as is The Kitchen Door at Penny’s Hill,” Cheryl says. “The Star of Greece at Port Willunga is an old favourite and the same people run the Victory Hotel at Sellicks Beach. But they are just a few of many, many options.”

However, a trip to McLaren Vale also offers splendid beaches for swimming and surfing, hiking along the ridges of the Onkaparinga River National Park and kayaking on the river from Port Noarlunga. Special events, including the Harvest Festival in January, the Fleurieu Folk Festival in October, the Willunga Almond Festival in July and Leaconfield Winery’s Days on the Green also attract visitors from interstate and overseas.

“As I see it, we have the total package,” Cheryl says. “I think I just got incredibly lucky the day my family decided to leave England.” ACH 70 Australian Country HOMES

These pages: The kitchen bench doubles as an informal dining area; the dining room in the guest cottage; crisp white in the bedroom; Nick Hunt has taken over as winemaker; the property is home to many healthy vines; a stunning collection of vinos, just perfect with a cheese platter.

HOMES Australian Country 71

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74 Australian Country HOMES

PIONEERS IN PARADISE Two generations of the Peart family have devoted themselves to turning what was regarded as wasteland into a true Arcadia.

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By KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KEN BR ASS

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These pages: The Outpost has great views of the Arcadia Valley; it may be off the grid, but no creature comforts have been sacrificed; The Outpost’s bathroom is a repurposed water tank.

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s Rowan Peart sees it, back in the day, everyone had cousins in the country and most likely visited them frequently. But with increasing urbanisation that is no longer the case, and the country-city divide is at risk of developing into a chasm. So Rowan and his wife, Maddie, and their extended family are doing what they can to bridge that gap from their home base on Sunnyholt Station in the Arcadia Valley in Queensland’s central highlands.

Sunnyholt has been owned by the Pearts since 1964 when Rowan’s father, Wally, and his brother, Robert, both drew blocks in a ballot designed to tame the “tiger country”, which was covered in brigalow scrub, and had no permanent water and famously poor soil.

“The Queensland premier at the time, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, released 16 x 10,000-acre [4000-hectare] blocks for development,” Rowan explains. “The deal was that if you didn’t improve the land, you had it taken off you. Whoever named the region Arcadia Valley must have had a real sense of irony, because it was barely viable for farming. It was so crook that no one from 500 › 76 Australian Country HOMES

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These pages: Rowan and a mate designed The Outpost as a Boy’s Own getaway;

miles [800 kilometres] around put their name in the hat and the blocks ended up going to people mainly from NSW. Dad and Robert were lucky enough to draw blocks within 10km of each other. They were also each given £75,000 in interest-free loans. Although initially they weren’t game to tell their parents how much debt they had taken on, it only took them about six months to work out that this colossal amount of money wasn’t even close to what they needed.”

But the Pearts are made of strong stuff and Wally and Robert have been honing their business strategy for almost 60 years.

They started out selling rabbit skins as kids, then migrated into share-farming on their father’s land at Armatree between Gilgandra and Gulargambone. In the early ’60s, Wally took a life-changing detour to Canada, where he completed first a course in agricultural engineering and then post-graduate studies in agricultural economics. It was an experience that would shape the approach to farming that he brought to Sunnyholt.

With what at the time seemed a massive debt, the brothers moved onto their properties. They bought a crawler tractor for clearing the brigalow and, by always making sure theirs was the lowest quote, contracted out their services. Robert and his wife, Nytha, moved a caravan onto their property and parked it under a shelter — basically four posts with a tin roof — to make a home for their young family, while Wally, who at that stage was still single, lived in a tent for two years. At the end of that time, however, › 78 Australian Country HOMES

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These pages: Holistic farming methods are central to the Pearts’ enterprise; the wetland dams are a haven for birdlife; the fire pit is a great spot for enjoying the night sky spectacle.

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they had cleared sufficient land to run stock and earned enough money to start buying cattle.

As Wally recalls his pioneering phase, the thing he missed most was a bath.

Having dug his first dam, he pumped water from it to a tank on a stand. Then he fashioned a bathtub from a cutdown 44-gallon drum and presto, he was on his way to civilisation. The house was next on the to-do list. Having gained permission to dismantle an abandoned oil-drilling rig that was on his land, Wally used this to make the framework for his dream home. He liked using local materials and his grandfather was a stonemason, so it wasn’t too much of a leap to make a stone and timber house, admittedly with help from a trained stonemason. By the time Wally met and married Helen, Sunnyholt boasted the relative luxury of the house overlooking one of several wetland dams on the property. When Rowan and his sister, Pauline, came along, Wally was well into a side career in agripolitics, which saw him become the president of the Cattle Council of Australia, vice president of the National Farmers’ Federation, and a board member of many organisations including Landcare Australia, Greening Australia, the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation and the Great Pacific Cattle Company. In 1989 he was awarded a CBE for services to the cattle industry. “I loved the hurly burly of

politics and lobbying, but at heart I was always a farmer,” he says. “I’d learnt a lot about cattle management in Nebraska and was eager to put that into practice.”

As Rowan takes up the story, Sunnyholt today is run on a hybrid of Wally’s approach to cattle breeding, holistic farming methods Rowan learned during a three-year course with Rural Consulting Services, and knowledge gained from eco-tourism studies in Africa. In summer it’s all about the cattle and their management and during the quieter times in the paddock in winter, the focus shifts to tourism and sharing their lifestyle with visitors to the property. Rowan and Maddie have opened several houses and workers’ huts on the property as self-catering accommodation and welcome visitors for anything from several nights to several weeks. The absolute jewel in the crown of their accommodation options is The Outpost, which Rowan candidly admits was born as a boy’s own getaway during his single days, when he and a mate sketched out their vision for a drinking shed on the back of a bar coaster. What they ended up with is a spectacularly located, off-the-grid stone hut perched in the foothills of the Arcadia Valley’s most predominant mountain, Castle Hill. The lights and fridge are run using solar energy with a generator as backup, there’s a gas cooker, barbecue and fire pit for meals, and a big verandah for taking ›

“Our biggest problem is not droughts, floods, bushfires or wild dogs, it’s brigalow regrowth.”

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These pages: Rowan at the wheel of his repurposed Prado tour vehicle; Rowan, Maddie and their son, Hunter, at home; the Arcadia Valley is walled on either side by ranges .

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in the sunsets and breathtaking night skies.

The Pearts also offer station tours where the workings of the property are explained in as much detail as guests want to absorb, as well as bird watching, swimming and canoeing on the wetland dams, bush walking and movie screenings in an outdoor cinema.

Being a glass-half-full kind of guy, Rowan turned the potential disaster of a Prado rollover into a positive, by cutting it down to create his very own version of a safari vehicle for taking guests on his station tours.

As Rowan gets behind the wheel to show Australian Country Homes around, he explains that Sunnyholt’s cattle might look like liquorice all-sorts, but are in fact the product of decades of crossbreeding. “Let’s call them Wally’s Special Mix,” he says. “They developed from a mix of Shorthorn, Chianina, Sahiwal and Afrikaner cattle and have a high Brahman content, so they stand up to drought well. They might look shotgun, but they are actually very thoroughly researched.”

This mix, when combined with low-stress stock-handling techniques and cell grazing, is proving a winning formula for the Pearts. “Instead of

flogging a big paddock to death, we’ve broken the paddocks into much smaller parcels and we rotate the cattle through them,” Rowan says. “We do a grid grass assessment on foot every three weeks and the stock is so used to being moved around that we can shift them by calling them. It’s a vastly different system to having dogs and bikes moving cattle from one huge paddock to another, but it results in much healthier stock.”

Rowan adds that they are in the process of converting the herd to organic certification, which means eliminating the use of chemicals on the property.

“Our biggest problem is not droughts, floods, bushfires or wild dogs,” he adds.

“It’s brigalow regrowth. If we were to walk away, the brigalow would come back with a vengeance, so we have to keep on top of it. Brigalow strangles everything that grows under it, so first and foremost I am a grass farmer, keeping pasture up for the stock. When Dad came here this was a wasteland, but now it’s viable country.

When he arrived there were hardly any birds, and since he created the wetlands there are now more than 200 birds on our list. It goes without saying that we are really proud of what we have achieved here and that’s why we love to have visitors and show them around.” ACH

Sibling rivalry Now that Wally and Robert Peart have handed much of the day-to-day farm work over to the next generation, they are able to exercise their considerable creative skills.

Robert After 40 years with his “head down and tail up” on his cattle station, Robert Peart says he relishes the freedom to indulge his passion for timber. “I’ve always been a hobbyist furniture maker, but life on the farm involved a lot of work,” he says. “Now that I’ve handed most of that over to my son, I’m free to indulge myself a little.”

He adds that he is only interested in using timber from dead trees and harvests much of his material from the paddock. That might include brigalow, crows ash or ooline, but he also trades or buys rainforest timbers including greenheart, which is exceptionally durable, if not somewhat hard on his tools. While Robert says he does accept commissions, he likes to take his time and usually ends up giving his work away.

“I’m never short of inspiration,” he says. “I believe imagination grows from being exercised. Many men don’t have a retirement hobby, but I have the opposite problem of not having enough time left to create all the things I have in my head.”

“I’ve always been a hobbyist furniture maker, but life on the farm involved a lot of work... Now that I’ve handed most of that over to my son, I’m free to indulge myself a little.”

Wally As Helen Peart observes, Wally’s engineering training has stood him in good stead as it allows him “to work things out”. So when he decided to enrol in a sculpture course at Toowoomba’s McGregor art school (now part of the University of Southern Queensland), he embraced the challenge when a tutor instructed them to think outside the box.

“I always dabbled in creative pursuits and Helen is a talented artist,” he says. “We’ve had numerous exhibitions with a group of local artists known as Six Artists from Out of Nowhere and I made furniture to supplement income during droughts. But gradually I became more and more drawn to working with bronze and aluminium.” So when issued with the challenge, Wally looked to the Sunnyholt landscape for inspiration. What he found was an abandoned termite mound, which he turned into moulds for molten metal to create intricate and original works that look like coral formations. Wally, who insists he cannot draw, says he is always on the lookout for new materials and moulds and uses whatever he has to hand on the property. That might include repurposing agricultural equipment into a metal figure, creating an emu from chicken wire, or making monuments out of his favourite building material, rock.

“Art is a great escape for the trials and tribulations of living on the land,” he says. “It’s the best way to shut off and relax.”

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CREAM OF THE CROP The Crooke family produces some of Australia’s finest ice cream from a factory in a former milking shed on their dairy farm in the lush Kiewa Valley.

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by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KEN BR ASS

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Y

ou could have heard a pin drop. As Sarah Crooke tells the story, she and her husband, Stephen, were sitting in the classroom for the world’s leading ice cream course at Pennsylvania State University in the US, surrounded by food chemists. As the talk swirled around stabilisers, emulsifiers, food dyes and flavour powders, Sarah raised a tentative hand. “But what if,” she asked, “we used fresh raspberries?”

While everyone looked at her as though she’d announced she was planning on making ice cream with dish water, she certainly attracted the attention of the lecturer, who came to her after the class and shared whatever knowledge he had about the radical concept of making her product with fresh fruit.

The Crookes and their son, James, and daughter-in-law Iris are the makers of Gundowring Ice Cream. For the past 17 years, from a factory in a former shed on their dairy farm in north-east Victoria, they’ve been churning out a product that has won just about every medal and accolade possible in dairy competitions all over the country.

It helps that they have access to the milk from their herd of 500 Holstein Friesian cows, which graze on the 1000 acres of lush pastures on the Kiewa Valley river flats. It also helps that they live in a region that offers a range of microclimates that makes it possible to produce world-class figs, quinces, rhubarb, chestnuts, hazelnuts, green tea, wine and fortifieds. But of course you don’t just get out of bed one morning and decide to make Australia’s best ice cream. Sarah and Steve’s story goes back to the early 1970s and has its roots in an abiding passion for fine food and an uncompromising attitude about how to produce it.

Back then, Sarah, a medical technologist, and Steve, a beef cattle farmer, were newlyweds with a yen to travel. Having grown up at Gundowring close to the Victorian Alps, Steve was an accomplished skier and Sarah also knew her way around a snowfield. They planned their big overseas trip, with the intention of working in Europe as ski instructors, but things went a bit pear-shaped when, shortly before their departure, Steve had a skiing accident and broke his leg. Plan B involved taking a job as cook and butler for the Tower of Lethendy in Perthshire in Scotland. At Christmas, the aristocratic household packed up and moved to the south of France.

“They flew, we drove,” Sarah recalls. “When it came to choosing the Christmas menu I hit ›

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These pages: The homestead frames views of the Kiewa Valley; the homestead was built in the 1840s; heritage trees frame the house; a sitting area in the historic farmhouse.

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on the idea of making Montebianco ice cream instead of a traditional plum pudding. So I found a Jane Grigson recipe, which combines the pureed chestnuts with loads of brandy-soaked fruit and nuts. My grandmother was English and she had given me a copy of a Constance Spry cookbook, so I had the recipe for the crème anglaise base.”

After a quick trip into Nice to buy a churn, Sarah prepared the iced dessert, which became the hit of the festive meal. The Crookes have never bought commercial ice cream since.

Roll forward a decade and Steve and Sarah moved back to the Kiewa Valley, where his father had bought land in 1944. The farm came with an 1840s brick homestead, which is where Steve grew up.

“History records that Hamilton Hume crossed the Kiewa River here in 1824,” Sarah explains.

“His brother-in-law, George Barber, or Barbour depending upon which source you read, took up the land for his son, Charles, in 1838. Charles in turn married his cousin, Mary Hume, in 1845, and the records show they built a ‘substantial brick house’ sometime soon after that. The property passed through several hands before Steve’s father, Dale, bought it. They were beef cattle farmers, but like everyone in those days they had a few dairy cows as milkers.”

Sarah and Steve bought their own dairy farm across the road from Steve’s childhood home, and in 1994 they took over the family farm as well. Sarah, meanwhile, pursued her career offfarm, working in dairy research and development and food safety. “I was definitely not a farmer’s wife,” she recalls. “But by the early 2000s the dairy was rolling along nicely and Steve was looking for a challenge. He looked into green tea as a diversification. But then, on a fishing holiday in New Zealand with a group of scientists, the idea of value-adding to our milk instead of putting it in a tanker and sending it out the gate was born. So in 2003 we launched Gundowring Ice Cream.”

The following year they took out the Champion Ice Cream award at the Melbourne Royal Show with their raspberry ice cream. Made using real raspberries, of course. “At first we were making ice cream at home at night and on the weekends,” Sarah says. “But things took off much faster than we anticipated. Local chefs jumped on the band wagon and asked us to make special orders, so we added bespoke versions such as Shiraz and black pepper and Gorgonzola to our standard range that includes flavours such as chocolate, ginger, toasted honey and walnut, licorice, fig, lemon curd and French vanilla. › 88 Australian Country HOMES

These pages: Urns and storage bottles adorn an archway of locally fired bricks; family portraits chronicle the Crookes’ long association with the valley; the dining room.

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This page: The garden is a seasonal delight; the Constance Spry cookbook with the recipe that started the journey; the herd that provides the milk.

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Our boys got involved too, and would help out when they were home on holidays or at farmers’ markets in Melbourne.”

Roll forward another decade and another intergenerational transfer has taken place as son James and his wife, Iris, have taken over from Sarah and Steve. James, who initially studied landscape architecture, is responsible for the general running of the ice creamery, while Iris, whose background is in HR, is studying dairy technology and food safety production, and is in charge of the factory floor. Brother Alex, a sociologist in Melbourne, and his psychologist wife, Brenda, continue to help out at food festivals. Meanwhile, the Crookes have entrusted their neighbours, Ian and Alice Holloway, with the running of the dairy. “It always was a very successful farm,” James explains. “The ice creamery uses only a small proportion of the farm’s milk and the rest goes to the MurrayGoulburn co-op.”

Gundowring Ice Cream remains true to its origins, using a high-quality crème anglaise flavoured with fresh, local produce. “We will only ever use natural ingredients,” James adds. “Let’s just say you’re never going to see bubblegum flavour in our range.”

“It’s been an amazing journey,” adds Sarah, who is using her newfound spare time to complete a BA in history, sociology and philosophy. ‘‘It’s not really a case of the tail wagging the dog. It’s more like the dog has had a pup, which has turned into a very successful business. I must say though, it is thrilling that James and Iris have been keen and willing to take over what really began as our flight of fancy.”

Gundowring Ice Cream is sold in delicatessens and fine food stores around Australia. To find a nearby stockist visit gundowringfinefoods.com.au ACH

These pages: James Crooke has returned to the farm to run the ice creamery; the dairy is located in the Kiewa Valley; three generations of the Crooke family are behind Gundowring Ice Cream; Gundowring Ice Cream is made to a traditional recipe.

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THE HEAT IS ON With the colder weather now upon us, we look at some of the best ways to stay warm and toasty in your home.

-------------------compiled by LAUREN CLARKE

Vektor 1100 Capture that campfire feeling with the Vektor 1100 fireplace. This product prides itself on its similarity to a real wood-burning fire, with its blazing flame produced from an in-log burner and the glowing ember bed from a sophisticated LED lighting system.

The Vektor 1100 has two interior

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finish options to allow you to truly style your heating device to suit your home’s aesthetic. And, with an excellent star rating due to a highly functional flue system, extra safety features on top of the standard, and handles for ease of installation and accessibility, it’ll have you dreaming of long nights by the roaring flames in no time. realflame.com.au

Ravel Fireplace Suite Luxury is redefined with Ravel. The open-fronted design of this mantel allows the user to truly enjoy the realistic Opti Myst flame that accompanies this effective heat source.

Choose to operate the heat or flame only, and enjoy the silent flame or smoke effect operation as you alternate between the two heat settings — or simply enjoy some air circulation without the use of heat.

But perhaps the real hero of the Ravel is its flexibility. This mantel can be easily moved from room to room, with set-up occurring in the space of minutes. It’s yet another fabulous addition to the Dimplex Mantel range, with the extra security of a two-year warranty. dimplex.com.au

Atlantic Fireplace Suite Heating doesn’t have to mean clunky appliances. The Atlantic Fireplace Suite from the Dimplex Mantel range features an ultra-sophisticated design, with a realistic log set and flame effect to allow you to enjoy the fireplace ambience without the need for expensive installation or venting.

The LED flame effect can be used independently or with the heat circulating option to keep you toasty warm and your home ambient and relaxing, regardless of the temperature outside.

And thanks to the cool-to-the-touch glass front and two-year warranty, you can sleep easy knowing your heater is safe and comes with the support of a trusted manufacturer. dimplex.com.au

Dimplex ceramic heaters Staying at home is easy with the Dimplex range of ceramic heaters.

These heating devices feature brushless DC motor technology to increase efficiency, making them better for your bottom line and the environment. They also include overhead and tip-over protection as a standard part of the range.

The Dimplex ceramic heater range offers three models comprising electric or manual controls, tall or short heights, and different kilowatt outputs so you can truly choose a heater to suit your mood.

These ceramic heaters are yours to own today and come complete with a two-year warranty for extra peace of mind. dimplex.com.au

Dimplex oil-free column heaters Heating doesn’t have to cost the earth with the Dimplex range of oilfree column heaters. These radiators are the perfect solution for those looking to heat their home quickly and efficiently with minimal impact on the environment.

This range has proven to be more energy efficient when used to reach 20 degrees Celsius, with electricity allowing for faster heat conversion in these products than in oil-based heaters.

They’re also 10 per cent lower in weight, making them easy to manoeuvre about your home to ensure the warmth can travel with you wherever you go.

Environmentally aware, efficient and effective? Sounds like a winner to me. dimplex.com.au HOMES Australian Country 93

Kemlan Super Nova Insert Nothing beats the beauty and bone-deep warmth of fire. Get the latest in heating with the Kemlan Super Nova Insert from Jetmaster. This popular product is extremely versatile and can be inbuilt into hebel or brick, or even inserted into an existing fireplace to keep you and your family cosy no matter the weather outside.

The Kemlan Super Nova Insert has the power to heat up to 220 square metres, making it ideal for those larger spaces. A generous door opening allows for a clear viewing area of the fire, with a deep firebox to match and ensure wood can be loaded with ease for longer burning times.

The Kemlan Super Nova Insert is a fully shielded convection firebox with a natural convection system and an optional three-speed fan to allow you to better control your heat. jetmaster.com.au

Taylor Mini Fireplace Suite Good things come in small packages — and that’s certainly true when it comes to the Taylor Mini Suite from the Dimplex Mantel range. This stylish heating product features a lay granite effect contrasting with a crisp, white exterior that complements a variety of home aesthetics.

The LED flame effect of the Taylor Mini Suite can be operated independently to the heat source, allowing you to still keep the 94 Australian Country HOMES

ambience of the fire on those warmer evenings. And with a product that’s as portable as this one, and able to be moved easily from room to room, why wouldn’t you want to maximise your fireplace enjoyment all year round?

The Taylor Mini Suite is operated via remote and has a two-year warranty. Two heat settings are available, allowing you to control the warmth in your home without sacrificing style. dimplex.com.au

Nobo Energy Control System Combine clean, efficient design with user-friendly benefits and you have the Nobo Energy Control System, the perfect way to control your heating this winter.

The Nobo Energy Control System allows you to centrally control your Nobo electric panel heaters via an app, resulting in an organised, completely customisable heating system.

Imagine this: you’ve come home after a long day at work. You’re chilled to the bone, a combination of the winter chill and a biting rain that has sunk its claws into you as you race to the front porch. You open the door … and you’re greeted by a wall of warmth. The Nobo Energy Control System allows you to create weekly programs to suit different schedules and set your heating so it is on when you need it — and off when you don’t.

This technology uses a HUB transmitter that connects to your wireless router, allowing you to communicate with the Nobo Energy app and organise your heaters to suit your lifestyle.

The Nobo Energy Control System is available now via MMEM, Rexel, Lawrence & Hanson, Electrolink members and Gemcell members. noboheating.com.au

Huxley Fireplace Suite Get contemporary heating with the Huxley Fireplace Suite from the Dimplex Mantel range. This modern electric fireplace has its heat source positioned at the top of the mantle to best disperse warmth throughout your family home. The design is subtle yet stylish, with a range of options to allow you to customise the fire to suit your mood.

Revillusion Flame™ technology creates bright and large flames that are incredibly realistic. Choose from a blue or red base and design the firebox mood lighting to suit your aesthetic. You can even choose to simply circulate air without the use of heat for those looking to add the ambience of a fireplace to their home all year round.

This marriage of technology and the magic of fire is bound to keep you warm and your home looking good this season, and for many to come, with extra security offered thanks to the two-year warranty. dimplex.com.au

Osborne Fireplace Suite This traditional fireplace captures that old-world charm. The Osborne Fireplace Suite from the Dimplex Mantel range captures the essence of days gone by using modern technology with flexible heat options, including air circulation without the use of heat, to suit your needs.

This mantel is designed to look like a concrete firebox complete with log set, which further enhances the appearance of those realistic flames created using Revillusion™ Flame technology. It’s easy to operate thanks to a remote control and completely portable, making it ideal for renters or those who want to shift the heat source throughout their home.

The Osborne Mantel comes with a two-year warranty. dimplex.com.au

Kemlan Celestial 900 Insert Fan Forced Fireplace The very latest in fireplaces can be yours with the Kemlan Celestial 900 Insert Fan Forced Fireplace from Jetmaster. This European-designed fireplace is sleek and contemporary, ensuring it suits your modern home’s aesthetic. It offers a large ceramic glass viewing area so you can enjoy the magic of fire as you while away those long winter nights.

But looks alone aren’t reason enough to choose a fireplace. The Kemlan Celestial 900 Insert Fan Forced Fireplace does not disappoint when it comes to functionality. It’s easy to light and offers users burn times of up to 10 hours, with the heat able to cover up to 330 square metres.

Not only that, but the Celestial 900 is low in emissions, with a rate of 1.2g/kg, giving you added eco confidence with your heat.

This Australian-made product comes with a two-speed fan and is backed by a 10-year warranty. jetmaster.com.au

Nectre N900 Open Wood Fireplace Enjoy the warmth of one of the largest open-burning wood heaters on the market with the Nectre N900 Open Wood Fireplace. This versatile wood heater is not just a constant source of warmth for your room or undercover alfresco area — it also makes for a showstopping centrepiece that is bound to capture your attention.

These low-emission heaters are Australian made and designed and manufactured in the factory in Dry Creek, South Australia. Not only that, but all Nectre products have the official Australian Made certification, giving you confidence that the products you are buying are authentic and completely local. nectre.com

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SET IN STONE Restoring the heritage homestead and splendid Edna Walling garden at Eurambeen has been a labour of love for a Victorian couple.

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by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KIM SELBY

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A These pages: The Beaufort property came with several buildings for guest accommodation; the Edna Walling garden is a major feature of the property; the mail box.

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s celebratory outings go, it was the one that blew all the others out of the water. As Sarah Beaumont recalls her 2012 birthday, her partner, Ian Glover, hit on the idea of a trip to the country to check out a property he’d seen for sale online. Sarah’s career as an organisational development training manager and Ian’s as an air traffic control systems installation manager meant they were always on the go in opposite directions and pretty much passing each other in the hallway of their innerMelbourne home.

“We were both living high-stress lives,” Sarah recalls. “So the idea of a tree change had lots of appeal. Our search for a change of pace had led us to look at places in the US, Italy and France, but there was no concrete plan. So when Ian suggested we look at a property on my birthday I thought nothing of it beyond a day in the country.”

The property in question was Eurambeen, with a historic homestead

on 150 acres (60 hectares) remaining of what was once a 6000-acre (2428-hectare) sheep station near Beaufort on the edge of Victoria’s Western District. Needless to say, Sarah and Ian were smitten with the property, its 1850s homestead and Edna Walling garden. With remarkable speed they signed up for the most expensive birthday present Sarah has ever received.

“Apparently all people could see was all the work that was needed,” she recalls.

“All I could see was the potential in the house, its outbuildings and the garden.

As the reality of what we had taken on set in, we spent quite some time wondering what on earth we had done.

But we really didn’t have much time to think too hard as we were so busy with the renovations.”

Fortunately, Ian is both incredibly practical and a dab hand at problem solving and was able to do most repairs on his own. Within a year of the tree change he took what must qualify as a Claytons retirement to devote himself ›

“Apparently all people could see was all the work that was needed. All I could see was the potential in the house.�

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These pages: Sarah at the front gate; the garden is open by appointment; the grounds frame views of the paddocks; poppy profusion; purple allium flower; birds in a barbed-wire nest.

to the renovation, and Sarah also scaled back her work to allow more time for the project. “We’re lucky that we have complementary skills,” she says. ‘‘I’ve got the big picture covered with the business side and decorating is also my thing. From the outset we knew that we were going to use part of the house and do up the cottages as self-catering accommodation. Apart from areas such as plumbing and electricals, we were able to achieve most of it DIY. We successfully applied for a grant from the Australian Garden History Society to repair the stonework, but nearly fell off our seats with the initial quotes from stonemasons. Fortunately, however, we got lucky when we found a local bricklayer who has done a brilliant job restoring the stone walls, which are such a hallmark of an Edna Walling garden.”

The first dwelling on Eurambeen was a wooden homestead built for the founding Campbell brothers in 1840.

When the Beggs family took over in 1850, they replaced it with a more substantial mixed stone structure with a shearing shed to match. The Beggses made many alterations during their 128-year tenure, most significantly in 1927, when they added a ballroom and 100 Australian Country HOMES

sunroom to one side of the original building and a nursery wing on the other.

When Sarah and Ian arrived in 2012, they set about turning the nursery wing into an apartment for a couple. Then they turned the old school house into a retreat for two and the former manager’s residence into a three-bedroom cottage, bringing the total number of guests they can accommodate to 10. “We called the apartment in the house Mrs Beggs’ wing because it is quite feminine,” Sarah explains. “There is still the potential to create another apartment, which I imagine will be called Theodore’s wing in honour of her husband.”

While Sarah admits that work on the house and grounds is never ending, when it came to declaring Eurambeen open for guests, her hand was somewhat forced when she took her first booking.

“To add to the pressure, it was the new Governor of Victoria,” she says. “We went into a frenzy the two weeks leading up to the visit, but somehow we made it.

We try to tailor our hospitality to suit our guests, and I do have a domestic licence, so I can provide dinner for the guests if they don’t feel inclined to drive the nine kilometres to Beaufort, or 50 kilometres

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The Beggses engaged the celebrated landscape designer, Edna Walling, to extend and embellish the garden to its present area of three acres.

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to Ballarat for a meal after just arriving.”

To coincide with the 1920s’ extensions, the Beggses engaged the celebrated landscape designer, Edna Walling, to extend and embellish the garden to its present area of three acres. In doing so, Walling added her signature stone walls including a ha-ha wall, a clever means of introducing a barrier to livestock without interrupting the view, so-called for the “ha ha” response elicited from visitors on realising the visual deceit. Sarah and Ian have also devoted countless hours to the restoration of the grounds and say they have become an attraction in their own right for visitors to the property.

“We were incredibly fortunate to find documentation of Walling’s work in the State Library of Victoria,” Sarah says.

“It included her original designs and watercolours, correspondence with the Beggs family and even budget details.

All that was missing was the plant list.”

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Serendipity intervened when Sarah met the head gardener of the late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch’s Cruden Farm, another Walling showpiece, and he was able to provide information on the plantings she typically used. “We haven’t been able to use all the plants Walling would have favoured at the time,” Sarah explains. “She was still very much in an English frame of mind and the climate has changed so much during the ensuing decades that it’s simply too hot and dry during the summer to grow those delicate plants.”

Sarah and Ian have also taken steps to protect an ephemeral wetland on their property and the remnant red gums that surround it. A while ago, they bit the bullet and opened the garden to the public. “I was astonished when 1200 people turned up,” Sarah recalls. “ I hadn’t realised how many people in the district have an interest in the property. Families

These pages: A collection of essentials adorn the building walls; the resident peacock; the garden is a celebration of colour; a vintage telephone pays homage to the past; amber glass makes an eye-catching display; a grand fireplace is the perfect complement to the portrait on the wall; a splendid wood-panelled bedroom.

of people who had worked on the farm or shorn sheep here, or visited with their relatives turned up. Some brought photographs and memorabilia and it was a wonderful opportunity to piece together some gaps in the history of the farm. It was a huge amount of work, but so worth it. We will doubtless do it again in the future as people seem so interested in the ongoing transformation and it was so rewarding. In the meantime, we open by appointment to private tour groups.”

Many years down the track Sarah admits the journey has been equal measures of fulfilment and challenge.

“Once I got my head around not being able to duck to the shops if I ran out of something and we bought a freezer and put in a pantry, I was on the way to loving country life,” she says. “It’s been character building learning to deal with the disasters and triumphs. Ian pulled up the carpet in the nursery to find half the

floor was termite ridden and had to be replaced.

“Then when he was working on the sunroom we discovered that underneath the carpet and the newspapers there was this beautiful American oak herringbone parquetry floor.”

To others contemplating a tree change, Sarah urges “seize the day. We moved away from everything that was familiar and we couldn’t be happier,” she enthuses. “It has been a wonderful experience to find how rewarding life outside the comfort zone can be.” ACH

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AT HOME IN THE HILLS A nomadic couple is beckoned home from a dream post in Europe by the alluring hills and vast blue skies of Eumundi, on Queensland’s idyllic Sunshine Coast.

by TAMAR A SIMONEAU, photography ANASTASIA K ARIOFYLLIDIS

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M

elissa and Andrew Kidd were roughly 16,000 kilometres apart when something life-changing popped into their respective inboxes. “Melissa and I emailed the same land to each other,” Andrew explains. “She’d returned to Australia a few months before me, while I finished an assignment in Frankfurt. While apart, we’d share property ideas. I was excited to see it as soon as I got off the plane.”

An unbelievable coincidence or a sign from somewhere beyond, no matter how you look at it, it seemed it was meant to be. “We loved the area and had lived around here in our teenage years,” Melissa says. “So we couldn’t believe it when this block of land came up for sale.” It seemed to tick all their boxes — rural, close to the beaches of nearby Noosa and Peregian, and not too far from the Bruce Highway for Andrew’s commute to a new role in Brisbane. But the fairy-tale start to their search for a place to call home didn’t last. “My excitement turned at first sight,” Andrew says.

“The block was being sold by a couple based in South Africa and had been left untouched for nearly 10 years. It was covered in lantana, wild tobacco and other noxious weeds and resembled a jungle in parts. Fences were in disrepair and there was no obvious place for a house because of the elevation. I think others had seen too many problems and walked away. We nearly did the same.” › 106 Australian Country HOMES

These pages: The family is spoilt for choice when it comes to picnic spots; the exterior of the home is inspired by the flat-roofed abodes of the Mediterranean; straight from the horse’s mouth; .

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A bulldozer and a little imagination helped change everything. “I saw an opportunity to level a 1500-squaremetre pad that would gently flow into other parts of the land, toning down its steepness,” Andrew says. They followed their instincts and bought the block and, after five days of bulldozing, their fairy-tale storyline was resurrected. “The results and views blew us away and we realised we had something special.”

Andrew and Melissa met as kids in Victoria, then reconnected as teenagers. After a stint in Sydney as newlyweds, the couple moved to Munich where Andrew, who works for a bond broker, had been offered a transfer.

“I worked in a bilingual kindergarten and absolutely loved it,” Melissa says. “I tried to learn the language from the kids because they were open to repeating the same word again and again and giggled at you instead of making you feel intimidated.” Eventually, she learned enough German to get by, but it was giving birth to her first child that made a foreign country feel like home for the first time. “It was when I had Harrison that I felt like I belonged, and wasn’t just passing through,” she says. “Munich is such a beautiful city and it’s so easy to get around. We rode our bikes everywhere and would meet up for lunches at the biergartens, which, like everything else there, were not far from our unit.”

After six wonderful years in Munich, the young family was on the move again, this time to London. “We lived 108 Australian Country HOMES

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These pages: A macramĂŠ wall hanging from beachsafarico. bigcartel.com in the family room; a horse print by Kara Rosenlund welcomes guests at the entry. raffia hat at the ready; an inviting garden setting.

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These pages: Sky and sea; vintage blends with contemporary; A canvas by Melissa hangs in the living area, beside a picture window framing the incredible hinterland backdrop;

in Clapham and had our second son, Lachlan, there in 2009,” Melissa says. But it wasn’t long before Andrew was transferred to Frankfurt and the call of home began to outweigh the excitement of their nomadic European existence. “We’d be stuck inside and freezing on grey, dreary days and seeing our friends back home post pictures on Facebook at the beach and camping and having fun in the sun,” Andrew says. “We wanted our kids to be raised in Australia,” Melissa adds. “We’re really close to our families and we wanted them growing up knowing their family.”

But their years overseas left a big impression and Andrew was keen to draw on European architecture in building their new home on the spectacular piece of land they’d so fortuitously come to own. “When travelling to Mediterranean islands, I loved the square, white, parapetroofed houses and terraces,” he explains. “I needed to compromise a little on design because south-east Queensland’s weather means you need shade and to be prepared for big rainfalls.” A builder helped him nut out the design and, after 15 months, their new home was complete.

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It’s perched on a rise surrounded by verdant valleys with dramatic mountain outcrops. A sparkling infinity pool boasting enviable 180-degree views is the perfect place to soak it all in during Queensland’s generous summer. Inside, Melissa has created a country-luxe vibe with subtle nods to the nearby coast. “I love lots of layers and textures, lots of neutral tones and the rawness of natural timbers and the feeling of calm it invokes,” she says.

With homemade cushions and paintings and lots of upcycled treasures and inherited pieces, Melissa can take credit for the special blend of ambience and warmth that attracts plenty of visitors to their home.

“I love how our house can handle a lot of people at once,” she says. “It’s light and open, so the kids can flow in and out very easily. A great day at home for us is having friends or family over and letting the kids roam the property and explore while the adults sit around a fire and enjoy a lovely glass of wine.”

On the day Australian Country Homes visited, horses Chilly and Possum were happily grazing near the houseyard, as Harrison and Lachie whizzed down the long hall on their hoverboards to the patio for a game 112 Australian Country HOMES

These pages: Melissa likes to entertain and the kitchen works well; the outdoor dining area.

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of foosball with Andrew. With 14 acres (5.6 hectares) around them, it never matters how rowdy it gets.

“Mount Cooroy and Mount Eerwah are directly in front and behind the house,” Andrew says. “To the south-east, we see Mount Coolum and Mount Ninderry. There is also a little water glimpse where we can see ships travelling over the horizon.” All this is a world away from their tiny abodes in some of Europe’s most bustling cities, but Andrew and Melissa couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. “I love looking out to the cows and horses in the paddocks,” Melissa says. “The boys have a lot of space around them to be able to roam safely — whether they’re making cubbies, playing in trees, making mudslides or riding their motorbikes.”

Andrew sums it up simply: “Home is a retreat. There’s always something to do.” ACH 114 Australian Country HOMES

These pages: A neutral palette in the master bedroom; Melissa has styled Lachlan’s room with mementos from his birth city, London; light and airy spaces prevail throughout the entire house.

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HIDDEN DEPTHS An Adelaide Hills couple has turned a working man’s house and garden into a showpiece.

-------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography ROSS WILLIAMS, styling BRONTE CAMILLERI

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These pages: A green canopy for a garden storage shed; the gorgeous gardens are a feature; strawberries growing in a grape dip tin; John and Robyn are the eighth owners of Clear View;

W

hen Robyn and John Oliver bought Clear View in the Adelaide Hills, they became not just the eighth family to own the property, but also the custodians of a century-long tradition of owners who were not afraid to get their hands dirty.

The Olivers bought the three-quarter-acre block with its main residence and guest cottage in 2010 after only one inspection. “I’d surreptitiously been looking for a few years for a place in the Hills,” Robyn explains. “I found it on the net on Easter Monday; we inspected that day and by the Friday we’d bought it. I must admit, there was a bit of a feeling of ‘what have we done’ but we moved in by June and then the work began.”

Although she says the block had been maintained through the years and always had a productive garden, the house, cottage, which is now a self-catering B&B, and grounds have been a work in progress ever since. › 118 Australian Country HOMES

Clear View was named for its views towards Mounts George and Lofty when the block was first bought in 1913. The sale was registered in the name of 14-year-old Florence Nielsen, the daughter of Mylor blockers, as the early settlers in the Adelaide Hills were known. They were part of a government-sponsored scheme to develop the Hills and the Nielsen family and their eight children would have lived in a tent while they cleared their land and built their home.

“We don’t really know how a minor came to own the land or even how she gained the necessary £50,” Robyn says. “It has been suggested that registering land in a woman’s name was a means of avoiding death duties, so that may be the case. However, Florence must have been financially savvy because she went on to purchase multiple Adelaide properties in her name.”

The Nielsens built the original two-bedroom cottage, which forms the core of the main house, sometime between 1913 and 1920.

“The walls were made from stone excavated on the land and are 30

centimetres thick in parts,” Robyn says. “As was the norm in simple structures of the time, the doorways are quite low and the chimney breasts are a little crooked … we forgive them because all the stone was excavated and constructed by hand.”

When Florence married in 1926, Clear View was sold to Elizabeth and Edgar Wallace. A builder by trade, who moonlighted as the station master at Aldgate railway station, Edgar expanded the house to accommodate their three children. As well as several rooms, he added a verandah that became three small flats rented as temporary accommodation to people building their own homes in the district. The Wallaces also added a cottage and an outdoor amenities block for their tenants. They also marked the driveway entrance with two distinctive plinth-like pillars that still greet visitors today. Clear View remained in the Wallace family until 1971 when it was sold to opal miners from Coober Pedy. It then moved through a succession of owners, who all left their marks, HOMES Australian Country 119

These pages: The kitchen is the heart of the home; outdoor dining on the deck; they extended the living space with folding doors opening to the outdoors; a decorative gate at the bottom of the garden overlooks the neighbours’ land.

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including one who commissioned an extensive renovation by Adelaide architect Pauline Hurren in 1994.

“The early owners were very much working people, so the garden needed to be productive to feed them,” Robyn explains. “This explains the lack of exotic specimens that you see in many of the grander Hills estate gardens. But we have inherited a lemon tree, which is more than 40 years old and still producing.” There is a Douglas fir in the back lawned area that looks impressive when lit at Christmas and a sycamore at the front that shades the house beautifully in summer.

Among the many changes the Olivers have made to the garden is a Japanese maple they planted when members of three previous owner families, including centenarian Dorothy Wallace, came for morning tea. Amid the fascinating snippets of history Dorothy was able to share was the fact that she met her husband when he came to board at Clear View as part of the overflow of soldiers from Woodside Barracks during World War II. Billeting soldiers was a popular trend during war time as the boarders came with ration books that could be used to supplement the family’s table.

“We’re interlopers from the east so it was a great opportunity to learn about the place’s history,” Robyn explains. “John had a long career with the Commonwealth Bank, and in 1998 we moved from Newcastle in NSW for his work. We rented in Adelaide for a while to test the waters, but after a couple of years we put it to a family vote and the decision was clear to stay in South Australia. So we bought a house in Adelaide and well and truly put down roots here.

When the children grew up and moved out, it seemed a good time for a tree change.”

Their first task at Clear View was to install rainwater tanks for both irrigation and bush fire protection and Robyn says the disruption prompted them to start work on the grounds. While the garden had been well tended, the Olivers saw this as an opportunity to expand the garden and they have developed it in stages, working around immoveable obstacles such as trees and large rocks and to suit the slope of the site. As they moved down the hill, they laid paths that zigzag across the steep parts, and built up beds in between.

At the same time, they extended the main house, all the while mindful of the humble origins of the building. “The work was challenging,” Robyn says. “Many of the walls were not straight or square and the floors and ceilings weren’t level. Some are still not.”

In 2015, Robyn and John embarked on a major renovation of the cottage, and it is now a self-catering B&B for two guests. “I retired about five years ago, so the B&B is my baby,” Robyn explains. “It works well as it is quite separate from the house and the guests often only see us when they arrive and leave. John is still working as the CEO of a finance company so it’s a good diversion for me.”

That’s when she’s not working in the garden. Even on the midwinter day when Robyn talked with Australian Country Homes, she was itching to get outdoors. “I love the progression of the seasons in the Hills,” she says. “It’s not so pronounced on the plains. Right now the trees are all bare and it’s misty, but it’s still beckoning me to get out there into it. Spring is my other favourite time. You look out and the trees are in bud and the bulbs are popping up.”

Robyn hastens to add that the garden has not been without its challenges. To start with, the site is steep enough for a wheelbarrow to occasionally get away. Also, there are copious floating rocks ranging from the size of a fist to that of an Esky lurking beneath the surface. ›

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This page: The Olivers have been careful to keep the humble character of the original house. For more details on the self-contained B&B, visit website 102onstrath.com.au.

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The Olivers determined early on to work with what they had rather than fight it and have incorporated the rocks into walls or ledges.

“My best friends are a two-metre-long spud bar, a kind of a crowbar, and a long, heavy-duty spade that my dad, who is off the land, made me,” Robyn says. “I’m never going to become a hand model as my fingernails are constantly ruined from all the digging.”

While the Olivers say the garden will always be a work in progress, they now feel the back of the work has been broken and last year they were encouraged to open it for Open Gardens of SA. “I was amazed that 500-plus people came through during our first open garden,” Robyn says. “We might open it again in a couple of years’ time so people can see the progress.”

An unexpected bonus of their work has been the return of many birds to the garden. “It’s also exciting when random plants that were planted by previous owners pop up,” Robyn says. “Last year, a whole patch of fairy’s fishing rods appeared. I certainly didn’t plant them so they must have been dormant for at least eight years. Nature is amazing with its hidden depths. Just when you think you know the place something will take you by surprise.”

She adds that when they look back on Clear View’s history, the common thread is a succession of owners who were not afraid to roll up their sleeves and do what they could to improve the property.

“However, I am very grateful to have come along at this time,” Robyn says. “At least we have the benefit of air conditioning, combustion fires and hot and cold running water at the end of a hard day in the garden.” ACH

Chelsea Park

‌a boutique bed and breakfast with a dierence

Chelsea Park is a glamorously restored Art Deco mansion, painted in a mellow, period cream to highlight the classic Deco lines and dramatic curves. When you arrive at this Bowral gem, you soon appreciate why Chelsea Park is called Hollywood in the Highlannd ds.

Sweeping up the driveway to Chelsea Park, you feel transported back in time and the mood continues inside as you are welcomed into a 1930s environment.

Arcadia House Arcadia House is a country-style home located close to the heart of Bowral. Fully self-contained accommodation for families and groups. Five comfortable bedrooms, two spacious bathrooms and all linen provided. Your home in the country, child friendly and close to all the attractions. Savour the lifestyle, sit and relax in a little bit of heaven known as the Southern Highlands.

More information at www.chelseaparkbnb.com or www.arcadia-house.com 589 Moss Vale Road Burradoo NSW 2576 T: (02) 4861 7046 E: chelsea@netkey.com.au