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HISTORY An Australian pastoral icon A Tasmanian colonial classic Pride of the Murray River
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6 Editor’s letter 8 Marketplace 10 A forever home Souvenirs from stints in Asia and Africa blend beautifully with a cleverly curated collection of preloved one-offs and upcycled castoffs to create a Queenslander oozing with personality and charm 20 To Paris with love Sydney artist Jules François has been a devoted Francophile for as long as she can remember 30 A Gothic gem Vanessa Bell is writing a new chapter in the story of Toronto, her charming cottage home in Queensland’s historic provincial city of Ipswich 40 Artist in residence Paris and Los Angeles couldn’t compete with the laid-back loveliness of Western Australian life for a globetrotting couple 50 At home with history The Burbury family continues a Tasmanian farming tradition that was established almost 200 years ago 58 Landmark and legend Camden Park on Sydney’s southwestern periphery is Australia’s oldest private residence. It’s been continuously occupied by the descendants of John and Elizabeth Macarthur since 1835 68 Retro collection Linda and Wallie Sobol love all things vintage, and their heritage-listed Colonel Light Gardens house is a simple reflection of that 76 Memory of trees For as long as she can remember, Ellie Collins has been inspired by nature. She used that muse to transform her home in the country 84 Heaven on earth A weekender in Queensland’s Bunya Mountains makes a great escape for the Austin family and their network of friends
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Receive four issues of Australian Country Homes plus a set of Occi O pyjamas valued at $89.95 for just $35. See page 98 for details of this offer. COUNTRY
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HISTORY al icon An Australian pastor al classic A Tasmanian coloni y River Pride of the Murra
INEST COUNTRY 8 HOMES ISSUE NO.
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92 A fresh chapter Moving to the Clare Valley heralded a career change into hospitality for Rosemary Howe, who had long experience as an interior designer 100 Pride of the Murray Historic Perricoota Station is a grand old dame of a property on the banks of the Murray River 106 Best of both worlds Country roots run deep for the Wiese family, who have lived and farmed in
Western Australia’s Wheatbelt for four generations 112 Spring awakening The warmer weather means all eyes turn to the great outdoors. We present a broad range of ways to enhance your garden experience 120 The treasure hunters A Toowoomba couple has brought the expertise of a lifetime’s collecting and dealing antiques to their historic home, Burfield House
130 National treasures A visit to the heritage-listed Woolmers Estate provides an intriging insight into the life of the colonial landed gentry as well as the opportunity to see the splendid display of the rose garden, with more than 5000 bushes ranging from early European and Chinese roses to more contemporary varieties in a display that reaches its spectacular best in late spring and early summer HOMES Australian Country 5
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pring is in the air and the warmer weather means we’re all looking forward to spending more time outdoors. Many of the houses featured in this issue have beautiful
garden settings and hopefully they will provide design inspiration as well as the impetus to get out and create an oasis of your own. In south-east Queensland, Ipswich’s Toronto is a cute doll’s house dressed in pink and surrounded by manicured hedges and garden beds while Godshill in the Bunya Mountains is a wonderful holiday house enveloped by towering trees of the nearby national park. Over in the West, a couple has put down roots after a lifetime of travel at Guildford in the Swan Valley and created a garden of bright colours and meandering pathways, perfect for quiet reflection. Our service feature, Spring Awakening, showcases the latest furniture, tools and accessories to make your garden bloom. Garden enthusiasts and history buffs alike are in for a treat with the story on the historic Tasmanian homestead at Woolmers Estate, which is also home to a beautiful rose garden, where more than 5000 plants from 30 rose families turn on a truly spectacular display in spring and summer. Meanwhile, if the walls could talk at Camden Park on Sydney’s south-western periphery, we’d learn much about pioneering pastoral history and the seven generations of Macarthurs who have called the property home since it was built in 1835. Perricoota station is another example of living history with its grand homestead on the banks of the Murray River. We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to seeing you for the next one, which goes on sale December 12. KIRSTY MCKENZIE, editor
kmckenzie@umco.com.au
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HISTORY al icon An Australian pastor al classic A Tasmanian coloni ay River Pride of the Murr
Editor Kirsty McKenzie Features Editor Cassandra Elliott
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Chairman/CEO Prema Perera Publisher Janice Williams Photography Chief Financial Officer Vicky Mahadeva Ken Brass, John Downs, Associate Publisher Emma Perera Anastasia Kariofyllidis, Claire McFerran, Kim Selby, Ross Williams Finance & Administration Manager James Perera Circulation C Business Development Manager Mark McTaggart Contributors Creative Director Kate Podger Bronte Camilleri, Daria Kurilo, Marketing & Acquisitions Manager Chelsea Peters To subscribe visit universalshop.com.au or ring 1300 303 414 Angela Lyon, Tamara Simoneau A GUIDE TO THE LATEST S GARDEN TOOL & PRODUCTS
Australian Country Homes (No 8) 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 MMXIX 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
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Marketplace Things we love that you are bound to want in your life. ----------compiled by CASSANDR A ELLIOTT
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8 Australian Country HOMES
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Nothing brings people together quite like food and flames. Now Escea has found the perfect way to combine them both with the EP1350 Outdoor Fire Table. Inspired by the classic campfire, the Fire Table is made for gathering, sharing, cooking and marshmallow toasting. escea.com.au
This iconic hand-woven cane chair is made from quality products for longevity. Beautifully crafted to add style to your home, Le Forge chairs will add a touch of charm to practicallly any environment. leforge.com.au
Le Forge is well known for its outdoor furniture and you may have seen its cane chairs and barstools in many restaurants and cafes. Le Forge has collaborated with hand-woven cane furniture specialists Gerard Lane Furniture to create a range of beautiful designs. Hand-woven to the highest specifications, each chair goes through a rigorous 12-step quality control process and is available in an exclusive colour palette. leforge.com.au
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A FOREVER HOME Souvenirs from stints in Asia and Africa blend beautifully with a cleverly curated collection of preloved one-offs and upcycled cast-offs to create a Queenslander oozing with personality and charm. -------------------by TAMAR A SIMONEAU photography JOHN DOWNS
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These pages: After decades living everywhere from India and Ethiopa to Vietnam and Malaysia, Riza and Cam Taylor and their family have made their home in a Queenslander in Brisbane’s inner suburbs.
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eter Allen’s emotive anthem about this beloved land we call home is an apt theme for the life shared by Brisbane couple, Riza and Cam Taylor. “Together we have lived in Malaysia, Tanzania, India, Vietnam and Ethiopia,” Riza, who was born and raised overseas where her father took on different roles for the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation, explains. “Cam and I met in Hyderabad, India. I was visiting my family from boarding school in Canberra, and Cam was working with my Dad — scandalous! He was already well-liked by my younger siblings who were living in India with Mum and Dad. I remember Mum telling me he was coming over for dinner and saying he was really nice, to which I replied in the sass only a teenager can manage, ‘If you like him Mum, he’s probably an idiot’. She told me to go shower and put on something nice and the rest, as they say, is history.” After a short stint on the Gold Coast together when Riza was at university, they left Australia to follow Cam’s engineering assignments in what would end up being a decade-long expat adventure to the far reaches of Asia and Africa. However, they realised it was time for the ships to come back to the shore shortly after their second child, Myla, was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. “It was one evening coming home on a Vespa scooter from a barbecue,” Riza recalls. “I was driving, Sam, our eldest, was three years old standing in front of me in the footwell. Cam was on the back with six-month-old Myla strapped to him in a Baby Bjorn and there were plastic bags flapping from the handle bars. I turned my head and yelled to Cam, ‘do you think we’ve been here too long?’ It turned out to be the moment that started our conversation.” ›
These pages: As an interiors and events stylist, Riza’s aesthetic is a mix of inspiration from her travels, upcycled second-hand finds from op shops and the roadside and new items found in quirky interior stores.
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In 2007 they made the move, opting to return to Brisbane. “I had nesting pangs and wanted a forever home after moving so often,” Riza says. They found it in a 12-year-old Queenslander with its original floorplan intact, a huge backyard, and plenty of rustic ambience to fuel Riza’s passion for all things vintage. “It truly was everything I thought a dream home would look like — beautiful, accommodating, and homely,” Riza says. “Having a mango tree in your backyard in Queensland seemed too perfect. We had spent so long in apartments in Asia that I was dying for my kids to climb trees and run over grass.” Back on home soil, Riza started her own styling business, Villa St Interiors, to indulge her love of design, and the family home is the canvas for her creativity. She’s infused a taste of the their travels, pairing those influences perfectly with second-hand pieces she sources from op shops, Gumtree, antique markets and even the footpath. They live under the old Queenslander until inspiration strikes and Riza upcycles them, giving them a second, or perhaps third or fourth life. “It’s easy to fall into the trap of buying what everyone is into because that’s what you see everywhere,” she says. “I try to look for particularly unusual or unique items, things that are beautiful to me in their colour, texture or structure. Great things can turn up anywhere, the secret is to always be looking. For me I can’t turn it on or off, it’s just how I’m wired. I’d like to think I can find beauty in anything, and with the amount of things building up under our house I think Cam might agree that I do.” “We are opposites,” says Cam, who spends weekends turning Riza’s dreamedup projects for their property into reality. “I am structured and organised and she is creative and carefree. It somehow works. I am pretty comfortable with the constant redecorating now.” His latest task was creating a European-style window box for flowers outside the kitchen window. Its pops of pastels rise whimsically above the farmhouse sink, against a backdrop of dense Murraya hedge that surrounds the grounds, encasing the family’s oasis in the city in vivid green. “I love that no one knows what’s going on behind our hedge,” Riza says. “We are close to the city, but ›
from the inside we could be on acreage.” The couple’s three children have gorgeously styled bedrooms, filled with inherited pieces and quirky finds. Each treasure on the shelves tells a story, and vintage sheets from Riza’s grandmother are layered into the linen on the girls’ beds, perhaps inspiring dreams of days gone by. Riza even transformed a Kmart play kitchen with warm white paint, and custom handles. “If I’m going to do something, I’ll do it properly,” she says. The master bedroom is painted in low-sheen Dulux Orbit, exuding an old world elegance, complete with a cluster of vintage oil paintings, and a kimono a friend brought back from Japan brings Riza’s signature touch of Asia to the room. “I love that Asian colonial luxury feel, the elegance of the 1930s in the tropics,” she says. “I’m also very driven by unique pieces made with age-old quality, so I love buying vintage. In a world with so many mass-produced options, my style compass compels me to create rooms that are distinctive. To me, homes grow like people do. The most beautiful homes create a feeling, you want to be in them. And they tell you about who lives there and what is important to them. That cannot be manufactured.” No matter how far or how wide they’ve roamed, it’s clear this family has found their forever home, and stamped it with a style as timeless as its timber and tin facade. “We are so happy in our home and I think she knows it,” Riza says. “It’s our sanctuary, the city stops when the gate shuts.” ACH 16 Australian Country HOMES
This page: The bedrooms are filled with inherited pieces and quirky finds such as a kimino one of Riza’s friends brought back from Japan, creating a luxurious colonial Asian atmosphere.
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Create your own oasis by combining wicker furniture with vibrant indoor plants. 3 compiled by CASSANDR A ELLIOTT
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TO PARIS WITH LOVE Sydney artist Jules François has been a devoted Francophile for as long as she can remember and now her life’s passion has given birth to a beautiful book. -------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KEN BR ASS
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ne of Jules François’ earliest memories is of arriving in Sydney as the eldest of six children of a migrant family and living with her maternal grandparents. While most of the family was Scottish, her grandfather was from Brittany and he introduced a French sensibility to the mix. “As well as me and my siblings there were nine adults in
this household and they were all obsessed with food and music,” she recalls. “While they all influenced my upbringing, unquestionably the most important figure in my childhood was my uncle, Harry.” It was Uncle Harry who took Jules to ballet when she started classes at the age of four. The studio was located on top of a pâtisserie and as a post-class treat he would always buy her a palmier biscuit. It
These pages: A mentalité Française infuses every aspect of Jules’ home and lifestyle from the decor of her kitchen and the way she cooks to the subjects she chooses for her still life paintings.
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was Uncle Harry also, who took the then five or six-year-old to the Art Gallery of NSW and introduced her to the French masters. “I remember standing in front of Luminais’ Sons of Clovis and deciding on the spot that I needed to find out the precise colours he had used so I could recreate that magic,” Jules recalls. “I don’t know what I would have become without his influence, but I have no doubt that he made a significant contribution to my evolution as a ballet- and food-loving, Francophile artist.” By the age of 10, Jules had also decided she was going to live in France. In a sense she did, as for 22 years she was married to French chef François (Franck) François. Their life in Sydney was punctuated by annual northern winter visits to France, starting in Paris and touring the countryside catching up with family and friends over countless rounds of aperitifs followed by fine meals. “When I met François he was the chef of a celebrated Sydney restaurant, Au Chabrol,” she recalls. “But he really became a Sydney legend when we opened La Gerbe d’Or, a pâtisserie and boulangerie, in 1982. That bakery gave me such a wealth of people who came from all over Sydney to buy his bread and pastries.” François ran La Gerbe d’Or for 31 years, during which time it became a landmark for the queues of French expats and lovers of fine food outside the tiny Paddington store. In a neat twist of fate, Jules recalls a group of Sydney Dance Company dancers lived in the flat above the bakery and would always drop by for pain au chocolat and coffee first thing in the mornings. Although the marriage ended, Jules says she owes François enormous gratitude for sharing his lifestyle and encouraging the mentalité Française which is such an important part of her life today. Jules studied fine arts, but she says she really found herself as an artist ›
These pages: An artist of considerable talents, Jules’ home is filled with her own works and decorated with a strong palette of colours giving the inner-Sydney house and studio a distinctly French accent.
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when she attended classes given by the renowned abstract artist Charlie Sheard. These days she gives classes herself in the studio above the Red Door Gallery, which is part of her home in the innerSydney suburb of Summer Hill. The love affair with all things French continues, with trips back to France as frequently as she can manage and in her home, which pays homage to France, with its tiled floors, French antiques and artworks and souvenirs of French travels dotted all over the place. According to Jules, the things that make a house a maison are herbs and flowers. As soon as she moves to a new address the first thing she introduces are pots of sorrel, chervil and tarragon. Geraniums, nasturtiums, violets, lavender and honeysuckle also thrive in containers on balconies. Then there are the pantry staples … a jar of caster sugar with at least five vanilla beans stored inside, nutmeg for grating, good sea salt (she uses fine grey sel de Guérande), white pepper, a good quantity of eschalots (“onions are onions and eschalots are eschalots, and the flavours are so different”) and crème fraîche. And, of course, the liquor cabinet is always stocked with eau de vie or vodka, orange blossom water, pastis, crème de cassis, sirop de grenadine, Cognac and Chartreuse. Recently Jules has brought all her passions to the table with the publication of a splendid coffee table book called Notes e Nostalgies: From My Paris Kitchen. Part memoir, part cookbook, with more than 100 recipes shared by friends and parents of friends from all over France, the book is lavishly illustrated with her paintings. They include still lifes and landscapes and everything from a street sign and a bowl of cherries to a study of time-worn cutlery and a view of the rooftops of Paris. It’s an unabashed love letter to France, a tribute to a lifetime’s passion for fine food, wine and the arts and the people who make and share it. ›
“It’s about shared memories,” Jules says. “Hopefully it rekindles memories of your own trips to France. Or if you haven’t been, creates the desire to visit and collect some of your own to treasure.” ACH For more information on Jules’ paintings and classes, or to order a copy of Notes e Nostalgies: From My Paris Kitchen visit julesfrancois.com.
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This page: Jules’ home pays homage to her many interests from French-influenced interiors, ballet, food and music to her artistic interpretations of landscapes and still lifes inspired by her travels through France.
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Inspired by ... Emulate Jules’ artistic style by experimenting with patterns, adding bold pops of colour and French-inspired pieces. 3
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6 1 Delia five-piece cheese server set, $74.95, zanui.com.au, 1300 668 317 2 Abella six-light chandelier in French grey, $695, beaconlighting.com.au, 1300 232 266 3 Powder-coated Teardrop cupboard handle in cream, $5.95, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 4 Haymes low sheen acrylic wall paint, in leek leaf, $39.80, haymespaint.com.au, 1800 033 431 5 Puzzle hand-embroidered ottoman, in turquoise and green, $445, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 6 Arvi 170cm multicoloured cotton rug with fringes, $26.95, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 7 Alibaba set of four metal planters, $326, tribehome.com.au, 0402 491 972 8 Louis XV white provincial marble mantle, $8999, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 9 Folly cushion, $33.95, zanui.com.au, 1300 668 317
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A GOTHIC GEM Vanessa Bell is writing a new chapter in the story of Toronto, her charming cottage home in Queensland’s historic provincial city of Ipswich. ---------------------by TAMAR A SIMONEAU photography ANASTASIA K ARIOFYLLIDIS
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anessa Bell is pondering the pink hue of her home. It’s Cameo Pink — not the kind of colour any home could pull off, but it lends her 150-years-plus Gothic cottage, Toronto, a sort of storybook quality, reminiscent of a gingerbread house trimmed with frilly vanilla frosting. The forest green accents tie in neatly with prettily manicured lawns and fragrant garden beds and two conifer pines at the
entrance that have intertwined to form a natural archway leading to the front door. It’s all very romantic, the kind of home you’d walk past slowly to sneak peeks through the old windows for glimpses of what life might be like inside. Its distinctive pink is always what first catches the eye. “When my friend first saw the house, she asked me if I was going to be a good witch or a bad witch,” Vanessa says. “I think the colour suits the house, but we’ve seen old
These pages: The front verandah is a popular spot for relaxing as it captures beautiful breezes and just the right amount of sun. Entry is through a hedge as old conifers have knotted to form a natural arch.
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photos of it white and, while it looks cute now, a different colour made it much more sophisticated.” Since the home is protected under the Queensland Heritage Register, Vanessa has to call in experts before she makes any changes. “There is some conjecture regarding whether it is the original colour as the history of the house reveals that many years ago the paint was burnt off,” Vanessa explains of a rather terrifyinglyrisky method of days long gone. “We have consulted a heritage architect who took several scrapings from various places, but unfortunately the process still didn’t reveal the original colour.” Born and bred in Ipswich, Queensland’s oldest provincial city with a vast and intriguing array of preserved historic homes and buildings dotted all over its undulating landscape, Vanessa came by Toronto serendipitously. “After being unexpectedly approached to sell my last home, time was of the essence to find a new property,” she says. “Having trawled the internet looking at what was for sale at the time, the only house available for viewing was Toronto.” Her connection with the old home was instant and she signed on the dotted line to become only its ninth owner. “The thing that really appealed to me about Toronto was the style and architecture,” she says. “Having previously owned a 1930s bungalow and an 1870s Queenslander with wrap-around verandahs, this house went even further back in time and presented very distinctive Gothic architecture.” Add to that a charming interior with lofty firstfloor ceilings, a grand and creaky wooden staircase leading to a character-filled second floor with sloping attic ceilings and a cuteas-can-be balcony and it’s easy to see why Vanessa didn’t bother looking any further. She shares the home with her partner, Chris, and their Retriever, Baz, and cats, Coco and Muppet, and after revamping the interiors to brighten it all up, the couple has spent countless hours toiling away in the ›
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gardens. “This home is a real sanctuary and coming home of an evening after work is a joy,” adds Vanessa, who works at a nearby boys school as a pastoral house dean. “My favourite part of living here is that everywhere you look, the home reminds you of its long history.” The building is one of the oldest timber houses in Ipswich, and a rare example of Gothic architecture of the late 1800s. It was built as an investment property for Englishwoman Elizabeth Lloyd, who’d purchased the land for £45 in 1863. “Elizabeth and her husband owned numerous properties in Ipswich and I am
lucky to have a copy of the ad when it was first advertised for sale,” Vanessa says. “It details that the house included a large wash shed, servant’s bedroom, cow shed and that the house occupies, ‘a most healthy and pleasing position’. Sadly Elizabeth’s banker husband, Augustus, died of consumption at the early age of 32 and afterwards she returned to England with their two children.” The Lloyds originally named the home Devonshire Cottage, but when a Canadian, James Jackes, purchased it in 1882, he changed its name to honour his birth city. Vanessa credits Ipswich City Council
These pages: The home is a microcosm of the couple’s passions and interests. They both enjoy cooking and Chris is a wine merchant so good food and wine are part of their DNA. They also share a passion for history and an old photo of Toronto hangs on the wall next to a pianola that belonged to Vanessa’a grandparents, who once had it in an old pub they owned in Ipswich. Coco the pampered cat saunters through the attic lounge where she’s often found basking in the streaming sunlight.
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cultural heritage officer Tanya Jen with much of the detail about Toronto’s historic past. Through the years, successive owners have shared an enduring love of the home and have always taken great care to keep it maintained and liveable. “One Christmas night Chris and I sat on the front verandah after guests had left just pondering what previous Christmas nights were like for the residents,” Vanessa says. “We thought about the Christmases that predated electricity, and we also marvel that the house has stood through world wars, cold wars, civil wars, floods and so many historic events.” The couple loves to travel and explore, ›
›
but coming home to their slice of Ipswich history is a blissful adventure to be enjoyed all on its own. “A perfect day at Toronto starts with a sleep in, followed by pottering in the garden,” Vanessa adds. “We love to have drinks with friends in the side garden which is shaded from the afternoon sun.”
Little by little, Vanessa and Chris are etching their own story into the home’s old walls. “There is never a day when I take this house for granted,” Vanessa says. “I marvel at her beauty every day and feel fortunate that we are the custodians who are lucky enough to clean, paint and look after her.” ACH
This page: The attic-style bedroom on the second floor is furnished with some of Vanessa’s antique finds including a brass bed left in its original time-worn state. The home was originally called Devonshire Cottage by its English owners, but was changed to Toronto by a French-Canadian owner who renamed it in honour of his birthplace. Owning the property has brought out Vanessa’s green thumb, although she admits that her gardening education has mostly been a case of learning by trial and error.
36 Australian Country HOMES
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ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Paris and Los Angeles couldn’t compete with the laid-back loveliness of a Western Australian life for globe-trotting couple Paul and Bonnie Atlan, who have beautifully renovated a 110-year-old home. ----------------------
by TAMAR A SIMONEAU photography CLAIRE MCFERR AN styling ANGELA LYON
C
These pages: Paul and Bonnie love exploring and have scattered memories of their travels around their house, but they say nothing beats coming home to Berry House and their pooch, Olive. Buttercup yellow in the kitchen was inspired by a visit to Monet’s house at Giverny in the French province of Normandy.
42 Australian Country HOMES
hance has been kind to Paul and Bonnie Atlan. It brought them together in the first place after Bonnie set off for Paris as a young American model in search of success in the City of Lights. She found it, and also added a dashing Parisian to her portfolio. “I was on the metro heading home from a modelling job,” Bonnie recalls. “Suddenly the train came to a halt and all the passengers frantically exited the underground seeking transport on buses or from passing cars. It was a strike, and I was left not knowing how I would get home to my little studio apartment. Buses were jammed, and too scared to ask for a ride, I stood helplessly until I spotted a red motorcycle that had stopped with a young man next to it wearing a red helmet, 50 metres from where I was standing. He was examining his bike, and looked stranded too. I was drawn to him and just knew he would help me.” A language barrier stood between them, but their connection bore through it. Paul managed to get his bike started and drove Bonnie home. The next day they met in a cafe for their first date, where he gave her a French and English dictionary. “When he spoke to me in French I couldn’t understand a word,” Bonnie recalls. “I could imagine that he was saying: ‘You’re beautiful, I love you’.” Within months they were living together, and a few years on, they welcomed the first of their three children. Years later, after stints living in France and California where Paul worked for a ›
These pages: Shots recall Bonnie’s modelling days in Chicago, New York and Paris, but now she’s very much at home in her studio and the house that’s packed with books and art. The couple has done extensive work in the garden, adding colourful flowers, trees and meandering pathways.
44 Australian Country HOMES
luxury sportswear label and Bonnie indulged her passion for painting in vivid colour, the couple was on the cusp of relocating to Florida for better education opportunities for their now teenaged children. A conversation with friends diverted their path. “Our friends spoke of Perth, and it seemed like a great sea change,” Bonnie says. “So Paul and I came for a visit and within three days we were filing applications for visas.” Paul opened a couple of stores for his clothing label and Bonnie found inspiration for her art in spades. They soon combined their talents and opened Stories On The Wall, a gallery and bespoke and recycled furniture space in the historic village of Guildford, north of Perth along the Swan River, where they were living at the time. But chance intervened again on a Sunday afternoon drive. They’d just renovated a cottage not far from their gallery, and had no intention of moving. “Bonnie spotted an open house sign on a side road,” Paul explains. “She insisted that I make a U-turn, and suddenly we were in front of a broken picket fence with several huge gumtrees. There was a yard with a wooden house way back from the street. Bonnie and I looked at each other and we knew this would be our next home before even checking the house. It was 5pm and the selling agent was leaving. We told him we wanted to put an offer on the house after five minutes. He did not believe us. We signed the offer the following day.” It’s exactly the kind of carpe diem move that typifies their globe-trotting life together. Their many years living abroad in homes
of every size and form had taught them a thing or two about renovating. They’d transformed a neglected weatherboard house in Los Angeles, and breathed new life into an old stone home in a small village in the south of France. Tackling the run-down wooden house in Gooseberry Hill, an outer suburb of Perth, was just another page in their colourful journey. “The bigger the project and challenge, the more I love it,” Bonnie says. “We never hire decorators or architects. Ideas come to me as I walk through the houses that many say are hopeless, but I see the magic returning.” They named the home Berry House and relied on their creativity and ingenuity to make it their own. “All rooms were done with salvaged original windows from boutiques or heritage homes,” Bonnie explains. “Stained-glass windows were found in salvage yards, or made on the spot by the oldest stained glass artist in Perth.” At its heart is a bright and bold kitchen that’s flooded with dappled light that filters through the windows from towering gums outside. “Bonnie picked the yellow kitchen after our visit to Monet’s house and garden in Giverny, where a yellow kitchen was very avant garde for the time,” Paul says. Bonnie’s striking art adorns the walls, and treasures from their travels and life adventures are an intriguing insight into two lives well lived. “As you walk through our home the stories unfold,” Bonnie says. “It’s a voyage through our lives, where our favourite things have travelled the world with us. Memories are stored in large display cabinets, or scattered across long tiled pieces of furniture from India. Then there are my collections. I think › HOMES Australian Country 45
everybody should have a collection. I have four different ones. Some were started when I was just 18, and some more recently.” Adjoining the house is Bonnie’s studio, where she busily creates with every spare moment. Both Paul and Bonnie also love getting their hands dirty in the garden. It was one of the first things that appealed to them the day they spotted the home, long before they discovered it was once a happy
playground for a young Heath Ledger, who would visit his aunt and uncle when they lived there. “Heath was often seen playing in the yard and using a stick to make noise to scare the snakes,” Paul says. “When we started the renovation we found a drawing of a red racing car on the wall signed Ledger. I still have the piece.” They met the star’s relatives at their gallery after they spotted a painting Bonnie had done of Berry House.
This page: Bonnie’s breezy studio adjoins the home. Her works are sold at storiesonthewall.com.au.
46 Australian Country HOMES
“One day I saw this couple walking into the shop to buy that painting,” Paul says. “They told us that they lived in Berry House, it was very touching.” It’s clearly a home that’s stolen its fair share of hearts in its 110-year history, its current inhabitants very much included. “We love to travel but we love coming back to Berrry House” Paul adds. “The feeling is calm, serenity and warmth.” ACH
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AT HOME WITH HISTORY The Burbury family continues a Tasmanian farming tradition that was established almost 200 years ago. ---------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KEN BR ASS
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These pages: The Burbury family bought Bowsden, with its convict-built homestead and outbuildings in 1928. Steph and Charles raised their now adult children on the property, which has history at every turn.
52 Australian Country HOMES
s Steph Burbury describes a day in the garden at Bowsden, her home in Tasmania’s Southern Midlands, it’s more like an archaeological dig than an encounter with Mother Nature. “You never know what’s going to turn up,” she says. “In the 30 years I’ve been living here we’ve uncovered everything from fragments of old china and pipes to 19th-century coins.” Steph came to Bowsden, which has been in the Burbury family since 1928, when she married her husband, Charles. They have raised their three adult sons on the historic property near Jericho in the Oatlands district, and continue a sheep-farming tradition that was established in 1822, when Dr John Maule Hudspeth arrived in Van Dieman’s Land and took up a grant of 600 acres (243 hectares) on the Jordan River. [Local lore has it that one of the district’s early explorers, Hugh Germain, carried a bible and a copy of The Arabian Nights, by way of explanation for local place names including Jericho, Bagdad and Jerusalem.] Fortunately for the Burburys and anyone else with a passing interest in Australian history, Dr Hudspeth left a diary. It provides a hair-raising glimpse into colonial life, complete with attacks by hostile Aboriginals, constant thefts by his convict servants, house fires and even the rape of a neighbour. Having spent his early career as a ship’s surgeon on a whaling vessel, Dr Hudspeth and his young wife, Mary, took the bold decision to head for Van Dieman’s Land in pursuit of a better future. The passage was not without incident as the Hudspeth’s manservant was drowned when he fell overboard and the ship narrowly avoided shipwreck off Bruny Island. Although they left their two-yearold daughter, Elizabeth, in England in the care of her grandparents, another daughter, Alice, was born during the six-month voyage and the pioneers went on to have seven more children, three of whom died in infancy. When young Elizabeth finally joined the family in 1834, her journey was marred by a fall in which she injured her knee. Her father and another doctor decided to amputate her leg. Given that it was performed without the benefit of anaesthetic, we can only imagine what an ordeal this must have been. Elizabeth, ›
however, must have been made of strong stuff as she soldiered on with a cork prosthesis, travelling all over Tasmania and even to Twofold Bay in NSW visiting friends. She was also an accomplished artist and examples of her work are in Hobart’s Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts and the Mitchell Library in Sydney. Life at Bowsden, which Dr Hudspeth named after his home village in Northumberland, was never dull. Given it’s now a short trip north from Hobart on the Midland Highway, it’s worth remembering that bullock teams averaged 15 miles (24 kilometres) a day, stretching the modern one-hour journey into a three- or four-day exercise. Along the way the Hudspeths camped with the road gangs, or at the homesteads of other settlers along the way. Bushfires were a constant threat, as were snake bite, accident and illness. On one occasion, the entire chicken population was wiped out by Tassie devils and on another, a storm decimated the potatoes and the cattle got in and trampled the rest to mash. Bushrangers, mainly escaped convicts from the gangs working on the road to Launceston, were responsible for constant burglaries and on one occasion the doctor was called out on false pretenses and returned to find “his place robbed of everything valuable”. In June 1824 a Mrs Osbourne came to stay after her husband had been killed by Aboriginals and seven years later, Julia Anstey, the daughter of the Oatlands Police Magistrate also found solace with the family after she had been raped by convicts assigned to her father. The first homestead on Bowsden was a modest pise construction with a wattle and daub partition dividing the two rooms. The fireplace was made from bricks fired on the farm and the roof was thatched and tied with bark from trees on the property. The Hudspeths’ original holding was expanded to 3000 acres and later another 1000 acres were granted near Andover. This property was named Lowick after Mary Hudspeth’s home village. Work on the present house commenced around 1834, but unfortunately the good doctor didn’t have much time to enjoy his new surroundings as he succumbed to the many stresses of the pioneer life and was admitted to New Norfolk mental asylum, where he died in ›
These pages: Steph and Charles have lived at Bowsden since their marriage and they have raised their three adult sons in the historic environment of convict-built stone buildings and pastoral traditions. HOMES Australian Country 53
1837. He was buried in the cemetery at St James’ Church in Jericho. His widow leased the farm, but continued living in the homestead with her family. In 1835 they had been joined by the doctor’s 75-year-old father and several other family members also emigrated to the infant colony. Bowsden celebrated its first wedding when Alice Hudspeth married William Patterson of Hunterston, Bothwell in 1839. Yet another romantic sidebar occurred in 1853 when John Hudspeth junior and tenant farmer Richard Harrison fell in love with the same woman, Rosa Mills. For some obscure reason they decided to have a horse race to decide who should be the one to ask for her hand. John won the race, but died soon afterwards from an overdose of laudanum. Rosa married Richard. After yet another bushranger attack, a bell was installed in the roof of the
homestead. “At some stage it was moved to the coach house, which had been added along with a barn [shearing shed] and a sandstone cottage in the 1860s,” Steph says. “The white horse weather vane is a more recent addition, as it came from Inglewood, the Burbury family farm, when Charles’ great-grandfather bought Bowsden.” The Hudspeths’ 90-year tenure ended in 1912 when it was sold to Erick Gallus. In 1928 Charles Burbury bought the property and it passed first to his son, Geoffrey, in 1948 and then to Charles. Steph says the changes during their tenure have been mainly cosmetic … a coat or two of paint, and some skylights to allow more light into the interiors. “At one stage we knocked down a wall in the kitchen and found the original stove recess,” she recalls. “Work in the garden is an ongoing project, and always interesting as you never know what you might dig up.”
Apart from that, life at Bowsden is much tamer than it was in the wild colonial days. The Burburys still run sheep, though have introduced Suffolks over the original Merino herd in a move away from wool production into meat. Steph and Charles continue another tradition in that they are stalwarts of the local church and attend services where the Hudspeths worshipped and are buried. “Most likely we’ll end up there as well,” Steph says. “We value our history and respect tradition. After all, we’ve almost two centuries of it at Bowsden, and that’s a long time by Australian standards.” ACH
This page: Steph and Charles have a deep respect for the home’s history and any alterations, including skylights and fresh coats of paint, have been to lighten up the interiors and make the house more liveable.
54 Australian Country HOMES
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LANDMARK AND LEGEND Camden Park on Sydney’s south-western periphery is Australia’s oldest private residence. It’s been continuously occupied by the descendants of John and Elizabeth Macarthur since 1835. ---------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KEN BR ASS
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ou could create a timeline of Camden Park homestead through the china collections dotted throughout the house. There’s a Chinese exportware service ordered from Guangdong probably about 1812 and emblazoned with John and Elizabeth Macarthur’s initials. Then there’s a Coalbrookdale porcelain service imprinted with the family motto, Fide et Opera (By Faith and Work), and purchased by their older son, James, in 1838, on the occasion of his marriage to Emily Stone. Remarkably, the receipt for this purchase from John Mortlock (China Man to Their Majesties Royal Family) also survives, and records that it set the couple back £100 4/- 11p. In a basement cellar there’s an astonishing array of bedroom china (chamber pots, jug and basin sets, hot water bottles), while in the kitchen there are remnants of everyday and special
occasion tableware that chronicle the Macarthur family’s 184-year occupancy of the imposing sandstone house. “What’s remarkable is that this is not a museum,” explains John MacarthurStanham, who became the seventh generation of Macarthurs to live at Camden Park when he moved in with his wife, Edwina, and six-month-old baby William in 1990. Victoria was born in 1991 and George in 1994. “This is a family home so things get used and inevitably, things get broken. But that’s one of the strengths of Camden Park, the layering of contributions of the different generations.” Acknowledged as the father of Australia’s wool industry, John Macarthur arrived with the Second Fleet in 1790 as a captain in the New South Wales Corps. In 1793 he received a grant of 100 acres (40 ha) at Parramatta and became the first in the colony to clear and cultivate virgin
land when he built Elizabeth Farm. His life’s journey was not all smooth sailing, however, and he was also known as the Great Perterbator for his frenetic political and entrepreneurial activities. He managed to fall foul of both Governors John Hunter and Philip Gidley King and was exiled to London for duelling in 1801. Macarthur made powerful friends in London and the case against him was dismissed. In 1804 he petitioned Colonial Secretary Lord Camden for a land grant in NSW to develop the wool industry. Official approval took the form of a grant of 10,000 acres (4046ha) of the best pasture land in the colony at what was known as Cowpastures. Although political intervention back in Australia resulted in the grant being reduced to 5000 acres (2023ha) until the venture proved a success, Macarthur’s friends in high places meant he arrived back in NSW with a flock of rare Spanish Merinos from the royal flock at › HOMES Australian Country 59
These pages: John Macarthur envisioned a country seat befitting his family’s standing in the colony when he commissioned colonial architect John Verge to design the homestead. Unfortunately he died before its completion and it fell to his sons to complete the project and its impressive garden surrounds.
60 Australian Country HOMES
Kew and Lord Camden received his due accord when the Macarthurs named their property. By 1820, Camden Park boasted a Merino stud of 300, 5000 cross-bred Merino wool sheep and 700 cattle. Work had also begun on the gardens and native eucalypts were cleared to create pleasing vistas and provide an Arcadian setting for the homestead. John Macarthur envisaged a country seat befitting his family’s standing in the infant colony when he engaged colonial architect John Verge to design the house based on the Palladian principle of a central two-storeyed block flanked by symmetrical pavilions. Using locally quarried sandstone, and native timbers including red cedar for the exquisite joinery and ironbark for the floors, work began in 1831. Outstanding features included an internal shutter system for defence and climate control, and three Argand lamps, originally lit by whale oil and converted to electricity around 1900. The back stairs to the servants’ quarters were lined with lead to muffle the footsteps of the household staff. Sadly John Macarthur died in 1934, just short of seeing his dream home completed the following year. It was left to his sons, James and William, to furnish and turn the house into a family home. William was a keen botanist and collected and traded plants from all over the world to create a truly splendid garden. “Camden Park is significant for the confluence of the birth of agriculture in this country,” John observes. “In addition to the birthplace of the wool industry the property played a vital role in the development of dairying, horticulture and viticulture. The Macarthurs were not the first to import grapevines, nor to produce wine or export it from the colony. But they were the first to establish the wine industry on a commercial scale in Australia. Their wines and brandies won many colonial and international awards.” The underground cellar provided storage for the wines and even today the bays contain bottles, many with their original labels, which attest to the property’s reputation for wine before the vines were destroyed by the grape-attacking aphid, Phylloxera, in 1872. “By the mid-19th century, Camden Park ›
was probably the most important plant nursery in Australia,” Edwina says. “In addition to the table and wine grapes, the orchard contained 47 different varieties of apple, 23 kinds of quince, as well as apricot, plum, pear, cherry, chestnut, fig, hazelnut, mulberry, peach, nectarine, guava, loquat, almond and all manner of citrus trees.” Even today, Camden Park’s garden remains one of this country’s most important and well preserved colonial exemplars and still spreads over 16 acres (6.5ha). Notable among its many
exotic plantings is the Camellia japonica Aneomiflora, also known as the Camden Park, or Waratah, camellia, which is Australia’s oldest surviving camellia. The grounds are maintained by a devoted group of green thumbs, which includes three part-time employees and an affiliation of volunteer locals, family members and former employees, some of whom visit weekly and all of whom join a three-weekly working bee. The Camden Park Preservation Committee, another voluntary body of experts in everything from colonial history, architecture and
This page: Edwina and John are the seventh generation of Macarthurs to have lived at Camden Park.
62 Australian Country HOMES
gardening to archiving and cataloguing, also helps John and Edwina manage the property and its collections. “We are extremely lucky to be supported by a great sense of community and respect for what Camden Park represents,” John says. “It’s the combination of the architecture of the house, the historic grounds including outbuildings, furniture, household items, the library and the fact that it has been continuously lived in by the family for all these years, that makes the property truly exceptional.” The library alone is remarkable for the breadth of its contents ranging ›
from classical literature, biographies and scientific and agricultural texts to religious and political texts, military histories and bound copies of Punch and the Illustrated London News. “The archivists have recently been cataloguing the books, noting their provenance and inscriptions in the front,” Edwina says. “The amazing thing is they keep finding smaller collections within the greater body. They include George Bass’s medical texts, William Dawes’ astronomy records and a collection of 30 to 40 books owned by another member of the First Fleet.” The art collection is extensive and family portraits, souvenirs from travels
to England and Europe and memorabilia passed down through the generations enhance every room. The “wood passage” between the entrance hall and the old kitchen is lined with samples of south-east Australian timbers collected by William. A duplicate set of this collection was sent to the Paris international exhibition of 1855. For many years the varieties of the timbers were unknown, but recently archivists unearthed an index to the French set and it has now been translated. Photographs of famous visitors, including royalty, also add to the montage and a framed letter of thanks from the Duchess of York in 1927 expresses her gratitude for respite during a
royal tour and observes that it was “such a relief to look at horses rather than people” for a day. Camden Park today remains very much a working farm with a dairy herd of 250 Friesian-Holsteins and a chicken for meat facility which raises 450,000 to 500,000 birds each year. There are also 15 cottages on the farm, most of which are rented to locals including several loyal employees, who have worked on the farm for decades. When John was a child, the district would have supported 70 to 80 dairies. Now Camden Park is one of only six or seven survivors. “Unfortunately this land grows better houses than cows,” John observes. › HOMES Australian Country 63
John and Edwina are acutely aware that developers would love some of their land, and the Camden Park Preservation Committee engaged heritage architects to prepare a document outlining the significance of the property to shore up its future. Mining interests are another area of vulnerability. “It would be unwise to make the past govern the future,” John says. “My father used to say ‘I didn’t create this place and I wouldn’t like to be the one who lost it’. We just want to see Camden Park looked after. But at the same time we have to respect future generations’ judgement
on what is the best way of doing that. I think sustaining agriculture is important for the integrity of the place. But circumstances may change and future generations may decide differently. We just have to hope that we have created the foundations so the people charged with responsibility in the future also want see the property preserved.” ACH John and Edwina open Camden Park house and garden once every spring. All proceeds go to the upkeep of this significant slice of early Australian history. For more details visit camdenparkhouse.com.au.
This page: The outbuildings and cellars preserve almost as much history as the homestead itself.
64 Australian Country HOMES
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RETRO COLLECTION Linda and Wallie Sobol love all things vintage, and their heritage-listed Colonel Light Gardens house is a simple reflection of that. ----------------------
by DARIA KURILO photography ROSS WILLIAMS styling BRONTE CAMILLERI
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all her trendy, but with a passion for collecting and hunting for antiques in her spare time, South Australian Linda Sobol was in style decades before the vintage trend became popular. Along with her master craftsman husband, Wallie, the duo complements each other well, with Linda’s eye for intricate treasures and Wallie’s talent at creating stunning old-fashioned pieces for their Colonel Light Gardens home. “Wallie and I have been together forever,” Linda says. “We met when I was just 17 and now I’m 53, so you do the maths. We were introduced through my sister and a friend at the beach.” Born and bred in Adelaide, Linda and Wallie spent much of their lives in the Barossa Valley region before they bought their first house. It was a contemporary establishment just south of Glenelg. Then they moved into their current historic red brick home, which was built in 1925. They bought the house in 2001 and decided to
extend the property, which with Wallie’s background was easy enough except for Linda who had to quickly learn the knick-knacks of construction. They have a daughter called Tess who has a daughter of her own, for whom Linda and Wallie have added a bedroom.
These pages: The couple has spent years sourcing vintage finds from little markets and antique shops in small country towns, and if they can’t find what they’re looking for, Wallie builds it himself.
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“She’s our first grandchild,” Linda says. “So we have a beautiful nursery for her for when she comes to visit with Tess and her husband, Tom.” The house holds sentimental value as it is believed to have been built by Linda’s great grandfather in the 1920s, under the Labor Government’s Thousand Homes Scheme. The program was a masshousing project that allowed hundreds of families to move into more spacious ›
These pages: The home is inspired by the French country style with a mixture of modern and old furnishings, which extends to their grandchild’s room. Linda lends some of her vintage finds to friends for special occasions because she discovered the joys of upcycling long before it became a trend.
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homes in metropolitan Adelaide. As her ancestor helped build those houses, there is a possibility that he might have built hers. Today, Colonel Light Gardens is a heritage-listed suburb. During the past 15 years the Sobols have transformed the interior of their home into an assemblage of vintage and antique ornaments, something Linda thinks is perceived as clutter by others. “My mother-in-law calls our home a museum,” Linda says. “I love furniture and items with some history behind them because it means they’ve got some sort of story. I like to collect things and restore them for later use. For example, we have an old wooden plane propeller that hangs on our kitchen wall. Tess’s husband is an aeronautical engineer and he found it and brought it to us. We restored it and even used it as a centrepiece for Tess’s wedding. It has a lot of sentimental value.” The propeller is not the only thing that Linda has lent out for weddings, with family and friends having borrowed her vintage suitcases, rustic tables along with many other items she has collected over time. She also confesses to having an obsession with flags, having decorated her home with cotton, cushion and bunting flags. Linda works in retail and both she and her husband work six days a week so they find time, as well as relief, in small getaways on Sundays when they go hunting for rare items. “Wallie and I like to go on the road to little markets and antique shops in small country ›
towns,” she says. “I’m drawn to the French-country style and I like to mix modern with old. You know what they say; a Sunday well spent brings a week of content. Sometimes we’ll see something we like and restore it or I’ll see something I like in a magazine and ask my husband to make it. The wooden arches in the garden and the bathroom are a case in point. Wallie built those himself.” Wallie isn’t the only one with the artistic flair, as Linda won or placed in three gardening competitions when they lived at their former house. “We had this beautiful 50-year-old English elm tree, which definitely gave me the advantage in the competitions,” she recalls. “Back then water was not as expensive. The local council did annual garden contests and the first time I came first, the year after that I came second and the year after that I came third. I would love it if they carried out competitions here in Colonel Light Gardens. I think it would › HOMES Australian Country 73
This page: From banners to buntings, Linda admits she has an obession with flags. The couple inspires each others’ creativity and the decorative, wooden arch in the bathroom was handmade by Wallie.
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encourage people to make something wonderful of their garden and be a part of a greater community. But strict water restrictions make it difficult. I’ve designed a garden that is droughtresistant by using pencil pines and box hedges, which I have grown myself because it’s easier for the plants to adapt to the environment if you do it that way.” While Linda will continue collecting antiques with Wallie and adding them to her already charming house, she also helps restore and decorate other people’s homes. “I’ve helped restore Tess and Tom’s farmhouse in the lovely Fleurieu Peninsula,” Linda says. “I love that style and to decorate and bring something old back to life. The only problem is everyone seems to be favouring upcycled wares now, but I’ve been collecting for more than 20 years. I might go for a new style because I don’t want to be following the trend.” ACH
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MEMORY OF TREES For as long as she can remember, Ellie Collins has been inspired by nature. She used that muse to transform her home in the country. ---------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KIM SELBY
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s a little girl growing up on acreage at Lilydale in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Ellie Collins loved nothing more than having the space and freedom to roam and play in the bush. Her other great joy in life came from crafternoons with her mum. “I made anything and everything,” she recalls. “I loved making bunting from natural fabrics and every pot plant in the house was wrapped in hessian or bark or whatever I found in the great outdoors. I collected timber to make wooden picture frames and planter boxes. I was always busy with a project, either finding the materials to make it or actually involved in the process.”
She took the concept to a whole new level by creating an online business based on artisanal accessories inspired by the natural world. Called The Vintage Tree, Ellie sold cushions, ottomans, bags, jewellery and her own handmade dreamcatchers, all with a boho rustic vibe and a down-to-earth sensibility. “A few years ago I started making dreamcatchers from old doilies as gifts for friends,” she explains. “I just love the way they work inside or outdoors and move with the breeze. I also love the history of using something that has a former life and tells its story in the occasional stain or age markings and signs of wear. From the responses of people I made them for I was
These pages: A love of the natural world inspired Ellie to decorate her home with earthy tones, rustic elements and upcycled found objects that she restored and gave a new lease on life.
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encouraged to make them for sale.” In the early days, she continued working full-time as a product coordinator for a make-up company, but gradually her after-hours passion started taking over her day job. Her weekends were entirely consumed by setting up her shingle at markets and weeknights were devoted to making stock and establishing The Vintage Tree online store. “So I went part-time,” she explains. “Then the business had expanded to the point where I needed and wanted to give it my complete attention. Apart from anything else I was getting a bit ›
These pages: Ellie uses a neutral palette and injects earthy tones and natural fabrics and fibres to create interest. She’s a big fan of crochet and macramé and makes a lot of the finishing touches herself.
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tired from working every night till midnight filling orders.” The home Ellie and her husband, Luke, created in the Dandenongs was a microcosm of the Vintage Tree world with natural fibres and native American accents contrasting against a neutral backdrop. “Structurally the house was quite sound so Luke and I gave it a facelift,” she says. “We painted throughout and being a plumber, Luke was able to do a lot of the work himself. We have a friend who is a carpenter who gave us a hand with the kitchen and the outdoor area. We created a studio for me upstairs so it was perfect for working from home.” Luke is the green thumb in the ›
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partnership and toiled long and hard in the garden. Ellie added her signature embellishments including, of course, lots of dreamcatchers and vintage touches. However, an offer that was too good to refuse and the quest for more space in which to raise a family meant that Luke and Ellie decided to sell their dream home. At press time, they were still casting around for the perfect spot on five to 10 acres to make their new home. The couple is expecting their first baby, so change is in the air and Ellie has closed The Vintage Tree. “It’s been such a privilege to be able to do what you love and make a living from it,” she says. “I count my lucky stars pretty much every day.” ACH
This page: With Ellie’s trademark flair, fruit-drying dip tins are born again as planter boxes and dreamcatchers and bird feeders hang from trees to waft in the breeze.
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Un nwind at home with natural m materials and earthy tones. compiled by CASSANDR A ELLIOTT
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1 White round planters, $319, satara.com.au, (03) 9587 4469 2 RICE round glass vase in soft green, $30.39, takatomo.de 3 Bay planter with glass bowl, $69.95, beaconlighting.com.au, 1300 232 266 4 Wesley side table in raw oak with wicker insert and glass top, $549, ozdesignfurniture.com.au, 1300 721 942 5 Seattle Vintage Cigar leather trunk, $2199, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 6 Artificial lavender in a white teapot holder, $14.57, melodymaison.co.uk 7 Rattan ottoman square trays, $330, satara.com.au, (03) 9587 4469 8 Noosa two-basket side table, $245, ricefurniture.com.au, (07) 3806 8000
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HEAVEN ON EARTH A weekender high in Queensland’s Bunya Mountains makes a great escape for the Austin family and their many friends. by TAMAR A SIMONEAU photography ANASTASIA K ARIOFYLLIDIS
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here’s a special place, high in the hills of the South Burnett’s Bunya Mountains, where Mother Nature’s timber soldiers stand tall in a guard of honour for anyone who winds up the driveway, and a chorus of colourful locals are ever ready with a warm welcome. Its name is Godshill, and at this altitude, it might just be as close to heaven on earth as you can get. “It’s actually one of those places that’s difficult to appreciate until you go up there,” says Wes Austin, whose uncle and aunt built it in 1995. “You meander along the driveway, and it’s very private and you’re wrapped in this bunya pine forest. The wildlife is amazing, we can be on any one of the decks and be swarmed by king parrots, rosellas and all sorts of birds that come and feed from your hands. And 10 metres away there will be wallabies and joeys feeding on the grass.” It’s easy to see why Wes and his wife,
Tara, together with his business partner, stepped in to buy the property from Wes’s relatives a decade ago when they wanted to sell. “Part of the reason for buying it was for our family’s continued enjoyment,” he says. “Both my grandparents’ ashes are scattered up there as well, so it’s pretty special to us.” In fact, Godshill has played host to many monumental moments for the Austin family including a wedding and an engagement. During one of their big family lunches, Wes decided that the time was definitely right. “Tara and I became engaged up there in the Great Room,” he says. Now they have two daughters, Willow and Lyla, and visit from their home on the Sunshine Coast, two and a half hours away, at least four or five times a year. “Our weekends usually entail arriving on a Friday night and having an outdoor meal at the Birdwatchers’ Bar around the firepit,” he says. “Saturday morning we go for a bushwalk and play
These pages: The house is designed in three zones with a separate studio, so it’s ideal for hosting large groups of family and friends. The Austins have given it a contemporary update with the help of Wes’s aunt, who is an artist and interior decorator and was one of the original owners.
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games, followed by a long lunch around the pizza oven.” The Birdwatchers Bar is their quirky moniker for an expansive deck with a firepit — one of Wes’s favourite parts of the property. The area is famous for its brilliantly coloured parrots, and Godshill seems to have its own friendly community ›
These pages: Scandi style prevails in the living and sleeping areas and there’s ample connection to the spectacular bushland setting of the Bunya Mountains in Queensland’s South Burnett region.
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of them. With surrounding peaks of 1100 metres reaching skyward, the Bunya Mountains rise dramatically out of the surrounding farmland plains. Thought to be the remains of an old shield volcano, the area is a haven of biodiversity and home to the world’s largest stand of ancient bunya pines and Queensland’s second oldest national park (1908). It has huge significance in Aboriginal culture as a gathering place for generations, coinciding with the seasonal drop of bunya cones that contain edible nuts. Today these gatherings are referred to as bunya festivals, and were the setting for dealing with a vast array of important matters, ceremonies, lawmaking and resolving disputes, renewing friendships, passing on lore, sharing ideas and revitalising spirituality, according to Queensland’s Department of National Parks, Sports and Racing. The dense forest also attracted loggers and European settlement in the mid1800s, and swathes of timber were felled, including those sacred and ancient bunya › pines. It wasn’t until about 1917, despite
National Park status, that timber from the park was finally off limits. The traditional gatherings are no more, but indigenous ties still run deep, and the Bunya Mountains are protected as a living museum for throngs of visitors from near and far. Many can’t get enough of this magical place, and Wes and Tara, who rent Godshill out when they’re not using it, often have return guests. “We get people who book it out consecutively each year,” Wes says. “It might be Easter or different times of the year.” Peak season is winter, when a fireplace, a pair of Uggs, and a bold glass of red are all you need for a cosy night in after a day exploring. “It snowed up there a couple of years ago,” Wes recalls. “It’s often actually in the clouds. It’s not uncommon to wake up in the morning and have the clouds rolling through. When a wallaby jumps through the yard you just see his shadow.” The home is made up of three living
zones, including a separate studio that can sleep up to 14 people. It was given a makeover a few years ago by Wes, who is a builder by trade. “Everything was 20-plus years old, so it just needed to be brought back to life a bit,” he explains. His aunt, artist and interior decorator, Di West, who originally owned it, helped with the styling, and her paintings adorn the walls. “We actually had her paint over the existing paintings she’d done 25 years ago,” Wes adds. “All the large pieces are the existing paintings with new artwork over the top of them. You can see the old paintings coming through still.” They’ve created a luxurious country ambience, with antiques and interesting treasures in every nook. Wes found some original chairs from Brisbane’s famed Festival Hall, and has given them a quieter life at Godshill. “I bought them at an antique shop in Newrybar years ago,” he says. There are chill-out zones, a pool
This page: Tara and Wes and their children enjoy spending family time at the beautiful Godshill property.
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room, a loft for the kids, four fireplaces, a wine cellar and that pizza oven in the Great Room that gets plenty of use. It’s a home created by family, for family, in a spot that’s been special for thousands of years. ACH
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Bright pops of colour can inject new life into your home. compiled by CASSANDR A ELLIOTT
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1 Gorgeous glass vases in lime green, $176, satara.com.au, (03) 9587 4469 2 Decorative ceramic pink jug, $31.07, melodymaison.co.uk 3 Rustic green metal candle lantern, $67.71, melodymaison.co.uk 4 Retro metal wall clock, in shiny green, $24.95, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 5 CLIP yellow wall hook, $35, bendo.com.au, 0403 235 539 6 Peaks colour block pattern pillow covers $38.12 each, etsy.com 7 Ornamental grey metal watering can plant container, $8.25, melodymaison.co.uk 8 Vintage duck-egg blue mantel clock, $31.07, melodymaison.co.uk 9 1960s retro-style orange Trimphone, with push-button-dialing and classic electronic warbler sound, $79.95, yellowoctopus.com.au, (03) 8684 9079
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A FRESH CHAPTER For designer Rosemary Howe moving to the historic village of Auburn in South Australia’s Clare Valley heralded the start of an exciting new career. by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography ROSS WILLIAMS styling BRONTE CAMILLERI
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y her own reckoning, Rosemary Howe is on her third incarnation. Born and raised in the farming service centre of Cummins on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula her family moved to Adelaide to better the children’s educational opportunities. “I went into hairdressing straight out of school and worked at that for 20 years,” she explains. “During that time I also lived and worked in England where I met my former husband and had two sons. Then I returned to Australia and moved into interior design, which I have practised for the past 25 years. But now I am in transition again.”
More recently, Rosemary reinvented herself into yet another creative and people-based career as the proprietor of a B&B and cafe in the historic gateway village to the Clare Valley. “I first came to Auburn through a decorating client,” she recalls. “I bought my house four years ago and since then have divided my time between Adelaide, where my mother still lives, and here. Then 18 months ago, the opportunity came up to take over a commercial premises in an old stone cottage and I was up for the challenge. So I took over a cafe what was once in Auburn’s general store and also a B&B in an adjacent building and its stables out the back.” Auburn was established in the
These pages: Rosemary’s move to Auburn ushered in a career change to hospitality with a cafe and B&B.
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mid-1800s as a service town for people travelling to the copper mines at Burra to the north. In 1849, the mine superintendent Thomas Henry Williams received a land grant on the site of present-day village, which he subdivided and sold in lots to create a stopover for bullock teams on their way from the mine to Port Wakefield at the apex of St Vincent Gulf. Among the earliest buildings in the fledgling town was the Rising Sun hotel, which dispenses hospitality today. Many of Auburn’s buildings are constructed from stone from a quarry just out of town. A number of them are listed by the National Trust and visitors to Auburn today can learn about their history by visiting the museum in the former Auburn Police Station. Another famous local is poet C. J. Dennis, who was born in Auburn in 1876 and earned popular ›
acclaim for his verse novel, Songs of a Sentimental Bloke in the early 1900s. Rosemary explains that visitors to Auburn are most commonly attracted by the town’s rich history and its proximity to the vineyards and cellar doors of the Clare Valley. As well, it’s a starting point for the Riesling Trail, a 27-kilometre cycling and walking trail along a disused railway route and its extension, the 19-kilometre Rattler Track. Bikes for exploring all or part of these trails can be hired in Auburn
and pickups and drop offs can also be arranged at points along the way. The café, which is open seven days, has become something of an unofficial tourist information bureau for the town and Rosemary says engagement with visitors is one of the many unexpected benefits of the career change. “I wanted to push myself and learn new skills,” she explains. “My mother was an amazing country cook, so somewhat surprisingly, my sister and I never learned much from her as we
always deferred to her. However, from the outset I was determined that as much as possible of the menu at the cafe would be made on the premises from local, seasonal produce, so I developed quite a repertoire of homestyle comfort dishes.” With her vast experience in interiors, Rosemary was well placed to decorate her cottage. “I was lucky in that my building had good bones, even though it was very small,” she recalls. “Then I gave everything a ›
These pages: Rosemary brought vast experience as an interior designer to the home’s restoration. She advocates repainting and reupholstering rather than replacing furniture and altering rooms.
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fresh coat of paint and put new carpet down and made a few structural changes. I shifted the internal laundry to an outdoor shed to make room for a pantry but otherwise it was pretty much just a matter of working out what pieces of furniture would fit where and what needed to go into storage. I was also lucky that as well as the beautiful stone building I inherited gorgeous Mintaro slate crazy paving in the back room, so I had a very solid structural framework in
which to insert my rather francophile tastes and sensibilities.” She adds that even with her business clients she’s a big advocate of adaptive reuse and often suggests recovering, repainting and reupholstering rather than buying new pieces. “Your furniture is part of your back story and it’s nice to be able to read that in a home,” she says. “That’s why I hang onto things. Life is a journey and while it’s good to start a new chapter from time to time, it’s also good to acknowledge your history.” ACH HOMES Australian Country 97
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PRIDE OF THE MURRAY Historic Perricoota Station is a grand old dame of a property on the banks of the Murray River. ----------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KEN BR ASS
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These pages: The large brick homestead on Perricoota was built in the 1860s, a time of prosperity in the region. The owners were partners in Cobb & Co and the stables were also built around this time.
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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 storey, 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 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 (29,400ha) for £250,000 to world-famous Merino breeders F.S. Falkiner & Sons, who during the next decade spent more than £1 million 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 (10,117ha) 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 ha) around the homestead. 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. As well, 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. When Trevor and Anastasia O’Grady took over, the packing shed was given a new lease on life, this time as a rustic function centre and restaurant. Most recently, the property has been sold to new owners, Barry and Jo Clark from Lucindale, in South Australia. The Clarks have big plans to take the property to the next level, a sign, perhaps, of rising fortunes for the border town district. ACH
This page: The fruit-packing shed has become a function centre. Many letters and records have survived, which will serve as an aid to the homestead’s restoration.
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BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Country roots run deep for the Wiese family, who have lived and farmed in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt for four generations. ---------------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KEN BR ASS
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These pages: Ashley (above, on left) has teamed up with business partners and farmers to establish the the Three Farmers quinoa brand. The Yarranabee homestead is the family’s country base during holidays.
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y most reckonings, Ashley and Jo Wiese’s youngsters have the best of two worlds. Week days during term time Ruby, Grace and Louis attend school in Perth with all the accompanying opportunities of the city classroom and extra-curricular activities. Come school holidays and long weekends, however, they head 230 kilometres south-east to Yarranabee, their family farm at Highbury, near Narrogin in the WA Wheatbelt. There they get to roam free and wide, ride bikes, swim in rivers and dams and learn to drive, not to mention gain a better understanding than many adults of where their food and fibre comes from. In doing so they are continuing a tradition that began when Ashley’s greatgrandparents moved to the Arthur River district in 1901. “My mother’s family, the Warrens, were the first to settle in Highbury and my father’s were the second,” Ashley says. “The Wieses came from Bordertown in South Australia having first arrived in Australia in the 1870s. Like everyone else at the time they were sheep farmers.” Ashley and his three sisters grew up on a farm about 20 kilometres west of Yarranabee, which was run by his grandparents. Along with many of his local friends, he went to school and uni in Perth. He studied commerce and worked as an accountant until the lure of bush became too strong and in 1992 he returned home to his roots to follow his passion for farming sustainably and innovatively. Along the way, he met and
married Jo, a psychologist who also grew up in the Wheatbelt at Shackleton. “I pretty much dragged Jo back to the bush,” he recalls. “We built a limestone cottage and lived there for a few years when the children were little. Then we moved to Yarranabee and extended the homestead, which was originally built in the 1930s. Both Jo and I love a project and we’re never happier than when we’re facing a challenge together. We like building and unlike most people, we thrive on renovations.” As the children progressed through school, the couple made the decision to base themselves in Perth. These days they divide their time between the city and the bush, with Ashley spending three or four days a week in Perth and the remaining time on the farm. Jo remains actively involved in the business, but is also pursuing studies in positive psychology for school children so her time on farm is less frequent. While sheep, in particular Merinos for wool, were the backbone of the Wiese family enterprise in the pioneering days, these days Yarranabee is an object lesson in diversity. “In the 1960s and ’70s my parents started growing oats to feed the sheep,” Ashley explains. “These days, we still have sheep, a blend of Merino, Finn [Finnish Landrace] and East Friesian, but in the past 20 years we’ve moved into the lamb market without disturbing the ›
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wool side of things too much. In farming everything gets bigger as the margins get tighter. In the early 2000s, land prices went up 80 per cent, so we were faced with a choice of either accepting marginal rates of return or becoming more intensive.” Consequently, the Wieses diversified into crops ranging from oats and wheat to quinoa, the Andean superfood that is enjoying its day in the sun for its versatility and health benefits. Ashley and two fellow Wheatbelt farmers have established Three Farmers, a quinoa brand that has proven a golden opportunity for Yarranabee. These days, the most significant building on the farm’s undulating landscape is no longer the somewhat down-at-heel shearing shed, but the swish new quinoa processing plant: a metaphor, if ever there were one, for the changing face of agriculture and the journey enterprising farmers such as the Wieses are taking to bring their businesses into the 21st century. While the Wiese children are way too young to have made any decisions about where their careers might lie, it’s reassuring to know that there will be a future down on the farm, should they choose to pursue it. ACH This page: Ashley, Ruby, Grace and Louis enjoy time at home in the Wheatbelt during school holidays.
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1 Miramar Paddle cushion, $44.90, thedesigngiftshop.com, (02) 9453 0332 2 T Tala rustic iron-framed mirror, $495, ots.com.au, 1300 774 774 3 Creative Bake Stir It Up collection ceramic tea caddy $27.57, creative-tops.com 4 Melbourne lb rne rro utdoor cushion, $105, ara.com.au 03) 9587 446 5 Adare 25cm light stone ceramic vase, $89.95, ozdesignfurniture.com.au, 1300 721 942 6 Tribe Home vintage rugg in nsity, premium quality wool, $12,000, tribehome.com.au, 0402 491 972 7 Ovela fine bone china 16-piece white dinner set, $89, kogan.com, 1300 3044 292
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SPRING AWAKENING The warmer weather means all eyes turn to the great outdoors. Here are many ways to enhance your garden experience. ---------------compiled by CASSANDR A ELLIOTT
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A Total Concept Landscape Architects & Swimming Pool Designers managed the transformation of this site on Sydney’s Middle Harbour by integrating a quadrant pool, cabana and garden into the existing Angophorastudded bushland. Numerous challenges, including a subterranean creek that required a piped diversion and an adjacent water easement, were negotiated on the rugged site for an outcome that is as pleasing to experience as it is to look at. atotalconcept.com.au
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Our Deckchair slings are strong and beautiful, made from heavy-duty, waterrepellent canvas. Paired with tropical hardwood frames, they are perfect for relaxing outdoors. Mix and match designs with the option to buy the slings separately and change the look of your chair in seconds. maglendesigns.com
Designed for solo lounging, this Isla hammock is built from the best marine components, kwila hardwood, powder-coated aluminium, high-performance Sunbrella fabrics and soft Dacron ďŹ bre padding. With UV-resistant nylon stitching, these hammocks are built to endure Aussie summers. thedesignhunter.com.au
Lounging about Relax in style and create the entertaining area you desire with these beautifully crafted outdoor settings. The Chillout Bukawu daybed with canopy is popular at hotels due to its looks and comfort and instantly adds a resort-style beauty to any city, suburban or country garden. It’s the perfect size to stretch out by yourself or with someone special. satara.com.au
The Ovela furniture setting adds a touch of class to any outdoor area with hand-woven rattan wicker elegantly wrapped around sturdy aluminium frames and water resistant, washable cushioning. This seven-piece wicker dining set, $479, offers durability, with UV resistance and splinter-proof materials. kogan.com
The Java three-piece al fresco setting is hand-woven using water hyacinth on a rattan frame. It comes with two stylish, deep comfy Java seats and has a beautiful woven coffee table that also doubles as a foot rest. For extra durability, the cushion covers are made from water-repellent, colour-fast premium fabric, which is light-, soil- and stain-resistant. ricefurniture.com.au 114 Australian Country HOMES
The beautiful Turban teak bench is a great low-maintenance, water-resistant piece. The elements mature the teak gracefully, and traditional joinery techniques create a sturdy, decorative bench. schots.com.au The O-zon oval dining table range is impeccably styled with a unique oval shape that is truly modern and has been created to withstand the test of time in the outdoors. Customise this table your way with colour options, either a ceramic or teak table top, and frames in either electro-polished stainless steel or powder-coated aluminium. The table is 240cm in diameter and there is even an option available for a lazy Susan centre. parterre.com.au
The luxurious Zeta sun lounge features beautiful lines and a solid kiln-dried teak timber frame with an adjustable headrest. The deep and comfortable base cushion is included, but there is an additional cost for the bolster. satara.com.au The Anholt range is a lounge system made to withstand all seasons with aluminium frames and cushions that can be left outdoors. The Anholt lounge chair brings a new kind of relaxation to your outdoor area. parterre.com.au
Anholt is a beautiful isolated island between Denmark and Sweden, the stark beauty of which inspired this range of products by Parterre. The sleek lines of the sofa and the soft, modern cushions complement any environment. parterre.com.au HOMES Australian Country 115
Dispose of your pets’ waste in an environmental way with the Pet Poo worm farm. This worm farm is a great way to compost your kitchen food wastes too. It provides an efficient, lowmaintenance and reliable way to dispose of pet excrement and recycle the waste back into the environment. tumbleweed.com.au
The Can of Worms composting system enables families to convert their kitchen food waste into a rich fertiliser for the garden. Kids of all ages get to handle dirt, hold worms and discover a new appreciation for the way nature recycles its resources. tumbleweed.com.au
Final flourishes They say the devil is in the detail, and this is particularly so when it comes to the finishing touches.
Earth Angel roses are exceptionally fragrant old world-shaped flowers opening from dark pink buds. The colour evolves to a delicate pink and the blooms exude an intense fragrance of lemon and apple, growing to around 70cm tall with healthy, dark green foliage. treloarroses.com.au 116 Australian Country HOMES
The combination of black powder-coated steel and warm wicker materials turns Vivi plant stands into contemporary eye-catchers that work in any space. cotswoldfurniture.com.au
These Tangles roses are very attractive in pots or small gardens. They’re a disease-free, low-growing bush, with large clusters of lilac blooms that flower late into the season. treloarroses.com.au The Morso Forno has a traditional fireplace style with a wide opening and short flue. The Forno is a part of Morso’s new outdoor living and cooking range, which makes an elegant statement in all environments. castworks.com.au
The Worm Feast in-ground worm farm is the perfect solution for time-poor families who want to be sustainable. The unit is placed into a raised garden bed and allows you to turn your kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich fertiliser for your garden. tumbleweed.com.au
Picture perfect Lay the right foundations and you can build almost anything into the garden.
With handmade detailing on every piece, Anduze urns are as unique as you. With a variety of sizes (up to 80cm) and traditional and contemporary colours to choose from, these rustic urns will suit any environment. leforge.com.au
Grill then chill. Take both your flame grilling and your party hosting to the next level with the Escea Outdoor Kitchen. The EK Series wood fire comes equipped with everything you need to achieve a smoky feast. escea.com.au HOMES Australian Country 117
Bring the comfort of the indoors, outside. With its quick and convenient heat, Escea’s EF5000 outdoor gas fireplace is just as perfect for an intimate night in, as it is for entertaining a crowd. Installation is simple, without the need for a flue. escea.com.au The Morso Kamino features an elongated flue that oozes style. Morso’s cast-iron outdoor cooking and heating range absorbs and uniformly transfers heat ensuring food is cooked perfectly, every time. castworks.com.au
These versatile river stone pavers are the ideal entrance to your home or garden. Each handcarved piece is unique and creates a rustic and natural look to your outdoor area. schots.com.au
Emu Wire uses 4mm One Steel Life Max wire, which not only looks great, but ensures longevity. Add some privacy and security to your garden with these beautiful heritage woven-wire fences. Available in three heights. emuwire.com.au
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THE TREASURE HUNTERS A Toowoomba couple has brought the expertise of a lifetime’s collecting and dealing antiques to their Federation home. ---------------------by TAMAR A SIMONEAU photography ANASTASIA K ARIOFYLLIDIS
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renton and Sharon Kinnear happened upon a life of treasure hunting by chance. As newlyweds more than three decades ago, they set about furnishing their first home together and soon discovered a shared love of things old and worn, rather than shiny and new. “We started buying pieces that needed work,” Sharon says. “We found we enjoyed the whole restoring and conservation process.” “As Sharon was busy going about buying and collecting things in the early days, someone had to then pick them up and do the restoration work,” Brenton adds. “That’s when I became involved and loved the
transformation from junk to a useful and beautiful piece of furniture.” ‘‘At that stage,” Sharon continues, “we didn’t know the direction that this hobby would take us in. We both had jobs and this was a weekend pastime.” As time went by, their hobby took a firmer grip on their hearts and minds, and they decided to take a leap of faith. “An existing antiques shop became available in Coffs Harbour, so we jumped in,” Sharon recalls. “Brenton then went off to do his French-polishing trade … we had the Coffs shop for 14 years, then one in Grafton for six years.” During those years, the couple were also building a family. They had four children ›
These pages: Burfield House was built in Toowoomba during the Federation era. The front verandah, with its views of the expansive garden, high ceilings, polished floorboards and timber panelling are features Sharon and Brenton knew at first sight would make a great setting for their collection of antiques and old furniture. HOMES Australian Country 123
and raised them in an idyllic landscape, surrounded by nature. “We lived on 100 acres just outside a little village called Glenreagh in the Coffs Coast hinterland,” Sharon says. “We had built a home based on a Tasmanian cottage that we admired using sandstone and period cedar doors and windows. Our lifestyle block was ideal while the children were growing up and we had every farm animal imaginable. We home-schooled the children for their early primary years and Brenton had his workshop at home so we worked, lived and travelled as a family.” But as the children grew, the couple realised they needed to be closer to amenities, such as high schools and
universities and decided to pack up the farm and move to Toowoomba, on Queensland’s Darling Downs, about two hours from Brisbane. The physical move turned out to be a lot tougher than the decision to make it, given their now vast collection of antiques. “Our move was enormous as it took 15 truckloads to move the workshop, household contents and stock from the shop,” Sharon says. “It took us nine months of hard labour with me based in Toowoomba looking for a new home, workshop and shop while Brenton was still in Glenreagh working, travelling to antique fairs, and loading the truck once a fortnight or so to bring a load to Toowoomba.” They finally found a place to set up shop near Toowoomba’s historic railway station in the CBD, and they found their forever home just a stroll away in Burfield House. “This place felt like home, even though it is on one of the busiest streets in town,” Sharon says. “It is an oasis in the city with a ten-minute walk to the CBD and work.” The Federation-era building also ticked the old-and-worn box, and has been a perfect project for them since. “Brenton has been very hands-on and enjoys working on the house,” Sharon adds. “The first job was repairing and replacing the guttering so the house was level and not leaking. There has also been a lot of rewiring and plumbing work.” Sharon’s main focus has been on fitting Burfield out with their personal collection of favourite antiques and taming the three quarters of an acre of garden that thrives in Toowoomba’s fertile soil. “My favourite part of the house is the front verandah,” she says. “It’s particularly wide and I have a lovely view of the garden. I like to imagine all the people who have walked up the steps to the front door over the past 110 years.” The home is believed to have been built by a couple who were partners in the Cramond and Stark department store which opened in Toowoomba in 1905. Through renovation and repair, many original features remain, including the intricate cast iron balustrade on the front verandah, now painted a crisp white, and ›
These pages: The Kinnears are not afraid of bold colours and have used many in Burfield House’s interiors to create a stunning backdrop for the collection of antiques they have assembled across more than 30 years of appreciating, collecting, restoring and trading furniture.
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pressed metal ceilings in several rooms. The Kinnears have plans to extend Burfield, but without altering its style. “I think it will always be a work in progress,” Sharon admits. “Old houses constantly require maintenance and we have big plans. We are aiming to build a studio in the backyard in the next 12 months. I see the former garage as guest accommodation with a revamped laundry and we want to update the bathrooms, but there is no rush.” Their professional lives are changing pace too as they prepare to wind down their shopfront business, and concentrate more on bespoke furniture restoration for clients via online sales and antique fairs.
“Basically our business now is focused around conservation of early colonial furniture for collectors and investors,” Brenton says. “A piece of furniture still with its original finish with a beautiful patina is what all serious collectors are seeking. Furniture which has been well-used and requires cabinetry work is fine as this can be undertaken and executed in the 19thcentury fashion. However, a 150-year-old finish cannot be replicated.” They’ll hit the road together with their wares and see more of Australia and more of each other. And at the end of every road trip, Brenton and Sharon will always have their beloved Burfield House waiting to welcome them home. ACH
This page: Sharon is adamant that a 150-year-old finish cannot be replicated and there will always be people who appreciate the patina and history of well-used furniture.
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1 Grey metal jug, $25.63, melodymaison.co.uk 2 HK Living medium wicker hanging lampshade, $299, kiraandkira.com.au, 0449 509 989 3 Square wooden vintage mantel desk clock, $29.30, melodymaison.co.uk 4 Cream heart-motif milk jug, $20.85, melodymaison.co.uk 5 Rustic antique cylindrical planter, $39.95, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 6 Medium Roxas gun metal pressed metal bar, $1699, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 7 Set of three vintage galvanised steel planter pots, $218.53, limelace.co.uk 8 Hansi rustic recycled timber candle stand, $24.95, schots.com.au, 1300 774 774 9 Garden Trading compost crock, $64.29, gardentrading.co.uk
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Colonial Tasmanian Treasures November weekend at Woolmers Estate Woolmers Estate, together with neighbouring Brickendon, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010. Woolmers Estate is a unique and fascinating reflection of colonial life in Tasmania and is one of the most historically significant heritage properties in Australia. Today Woolmers Estate continues to display colonial life in its most genuine shape and gives an accurate depiction of Tasmanian heritage, preserved and maintained in an original and authentic setting. Woolmers Estate, owned by the Archer family until 1994 and now owned by a private trust, comprises more than 18 buildings and structures in a rural setting of 13 hectares. Woolmers House, a large two-storey building with a flagged veranda, was the home of the ‘private master’. Woolmers Estate is open daily for self-guided tours of the grounds, gardens and convict built outbuildings and guided house tours are also conducted daily. Funds from all events and tours of the estate support the ongoing conservation and preservation work.
Antiques Fair
Festival of Roses
NOVEMBER 16 - 17
NOVEMBER 17
SAT 10am - 4pm SUN 10am - 3pm
There are 15 leading dealers participating both from the mainland and Tasmania, this will be its third successful year an exclusive Antiques Fair in a unique setting. SATURDAY SUNDAY
SUN 10am - 3pm Enjoy a tour around the stunning historic rose gardens, along with over 80 stalls offering wine, food, plants, jewellery, arts & crafts with childrens wonderland, music & entertainment.
Adult: $10 u/16: FREE Adult: $15 u/16: FREE
FOR MORE INFORMATION 03 6391 2230 enquiries@woolmers.com.au 658 Woolmers Lane, Longford, Tasmania 7301
Begin forever with an unforgettable day at Marjorie’s Woolmers Estate. Nestled amongst the world heritage history, charm and stunning estate grounds of Woolmers Estate. We embrace your vision and personalise every detail to create a distinctively memorable day delivering your individual flair! Your guests will be enchanted by elegant country hospitality less than 20 minutes from Launceston. This is the perfect location for an destination wedding with on site accommodation in this unique setting.
Open for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea 7 days per week. For further information please contact info@marjories.com.au W W W. M A R J O R I E S . C O M . A U
NATIONAL TREASURES A visit to Woolmers Estate provides an intriguing insight into life for our colonial landed gentry. ----------------by KIRSTY MCKENZIE photography KEN BR ASS
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f the clutter at home is getting on top of you, spare a thought for Woolmers Estate, near Longford in north-eastern Tasmania. For six generations, the owners of this World Heritage-listed estate, the Archer family, never threw anything out. From baby clothes and buttons to magazines, match boxes and even a snake-bite kit, the possessions accrued by the family from 1817 to 1994 were preserved in the homestead creating a remarkable pastiche of Australian colonial life. In 1813, Thomas Archer I became the first of his family to settle in Van Diemans Land, as the colony was then known. He’d set off for Sydney from England in 1811 and in 1813 was appointed to the role of deputy commissariat of the stores at Port Dalrymple, now George Town, on the banks of the Tamar River. He progressed through various
government positions including justice of the peace, coroner and magistrate and in 1817 was rewarded for his efforts when Governor Macquarie gave him a grant of 800 acres (324 hectares) on the banks of the Macquarie River. Having recently married Susannah Hortle, he settled on his land and named the property Woolmers after a property in his home county of Hertfordshire. Their son, Thomas William, was born shortly after and work on the homestead also started about the same time. The house was built along the lines of a NSW bungalow with a wide verandah paved with slabs of sandstone from the Western Tiers encircling it and the timber framework filled with bricks, then clad with weatherboards, milled on the estate. As a concession to security, shutters were fitted to the windows to protect the family from bushrangers
These pages: The Archers ordered much of the furniture from England and, fortunately for today’s visitors, never threw anything out. So the house contains a remarkable record of almost 200 years’ history.
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and escaped convicts. During the two years the house took to complete, Thomas ordered furniture from England and much of it remains in the homestead today. The property was more like a small village, with a large woolshed, numerous cottages, a chapel and an enormous storehouse among the many outbuildings. During the 1820s, Thomas was joined on the Norfolk Plains by his brothers, Joseph, who took up Panshanger and William, who established neighbouring Brickendon, which is still owned and farmed by Archer descendants. By the time Edward settled at Northbury and Leverington, the Archers were in charge of tens of
thousands of acres of rich farming land. They were progressive farmers, introducing technology and equipment to speed progress, clearing native vegetation to introduce new grasses and importing fine Merino sheep to improve their flocks. Of course, the brothers were greatly assisted by their assigned labour force of convicts. Males worked as blacksmiths, tanners, farmhands, gardeners and shepherds while females worked in domestic service. The men were accommodated in outbuildings while the women lived in quarters on the first floor of the house. With a combined annual convict population of more than 100,
Woolmers and Brickendon formed an aggregate of convict labour second only to the Van Dieman’s Land Company holdings in Tasmania’s north-west. Although Thomas resigned from colonial administration he continued his commitment to public life by becoming a member of the Legislative Council of Van Dieman’s Land from 1829 until 1844. Somewhat ironically, he also became a key advocate from the abolition of convict transportation and the closure of Tasmania’s penal settlements. As befitted a family of such standing in the colony, young Thomas William was shipped to England for his education, HOMES Australian Country 133
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which included studies in architecture in Europe. Upon his return, he was charged with the responsibility of revamping the homestead and it would appear that he was given a blank cheque, as he added an Italianate façade, a grand oak-furnished entrance hall with dining room to one side and a drawing room to the other. Upstairs was a guest bedroom, named the Franklin Suite, in honour of a planned visit by the governor. (Unfortunately his tenure was over before the room was completed, so it’s unlikely the room was ever used by him.) Features of the dining room include a black Italian marble fireplace, family portraits and a collection of Gillows mahogany furniture, said to be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The dinner service is Worcester (pre-Royal Worcester, and bears the Archer family crest and the motto, Le fin couronne l’oeuvre, which loosely translates as “the end crowns the work”. The crest also turns up on the silverware, the glassware, sideboards and even uniform buttons. Three eras of music are also represented with a Collard & Collard piano, an Edison phonograph and a 1930s’ gramophone, while candelabra, paraffin wax and gas lights also record the passage of the years. Astonishingly, the homestead was only connected to mains electricity in 1975. Thomas II also applied his architectural skills to other buildings on the estate, including the coachhouse and stables,
a coachman’s cottage and an octagonal horse-drawn water pumphouse on the banks of the river. Sadly, Thomas II died of scarlet fever in 1844, and when his father passed away in 1850, Woolmers was held in trust until Thomas III grew up and returned from studying in England. By this stage Woolmers was a substantial 12,271 acres (4880 ha) and with other holdings, the estate totalled 34,272 acres (13,869 ha). Thomas III had little interest in farming and the estate that his grandfather had worked so hard to develop was entrusted to the care of tenant farmers. Thomas IV preferred golf to farming and left his mark on history by playing in the Australian Open. By the turn of the century, good farming land was becoming scarce and absentee landlords were out of favour. In 1911, a portion of Woolmers was resumed under the Closer Settlement Scheme. Thomas V did have a love for the land and established an apple orchard, sending fruit all over the state and to the mainland. During his tenure, the chapel was turned into an apple packing shed and the property was reduced to 640 acres (259 ha) under the post WWI Soldier Settlement Scheme. The Brazilian rosewood drawing room bears the imprint of Thomas V’s wife, Marjorie, who chose the bold floral upholstery in the 1930s. As the last female occupant in the house, Marjorie also left
These pages: The property, with its outbuildings and cottages for family and workers, resembled a village.
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her mark on the front bedroom with its flamboyant pink scheme and a flurry of fur stoles and wraps. Following his father’s death, Thomas VI continued to maintain Woolmers for 20 years. When he died in 1994, having never married and with no heir, he bequeathed the estate to a public trust. Today the property and its surviving 13ha are maintained by the Woolmers Foundation, which employs a small staff of managers, conservators and groundspeople and a battalion of volunteers to maintain the property and show visitors around what has become an astohnishing time capsule. Seven of the convict-built cottages have been turned into self-catering accommodation and visitors who fancy a more immersive experience can spend a night or two surrounded by this remarkable remnant of colonial and convict history and contribute to its preservation through ›
These pages: Woolmers is also home to the beautiful rose garden, which contains more than 5000 specimens ranging from early European and Chinese specimens through to contemporary varieties.
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the very reasonable tariffs. They can also tour the rose garden, which was established in 2001 on the site of the former apple orchard. Covering 1.5ha, the garden contains more than 5000 specimens ranging from the earliest European and Chinese roses through to contemporary varieties. The central parterre garden is known as the George Adams Memorial Garden and is named after the founder of Tattersalls, a major sponsor. An 80 metrelong rose arbour, planted to 75 Westerland climbing roses, is the apricot-hued jewel in the garden’s crown, particularly in spring. Each November, a rose festival attracts thousands of visitors. Tourism is the lifeblood of Woolmers these days, supplemented by grants for specific updates such as museum-quality lighting and humidifiers. As house-keeping officer Kim Gatenby explains it, the wish list for Woolmers is never ending. “There’s always something that needs fixing or restoring and we can always do with more volunteers,” she says. “From dusting to dead-heading the roses, there’s always something to do.” ACH For more information on Woolmers visit woolmers.com.au.
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A home away from home... For over 120 years, boarding has been at the heart of Loreto Normanhurst. Boarders are encouraged to participate to the fullest extent of school life, discovering their gifts and building life-long friendships.
Being a boarder at Loreto Normanhurst has opened a world of opportunities and allowed me to grow as an individual in a supportive and loving community. - Lara, Year 12 Boarder
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