Innholdsfortegnelse for December Issue#5 2018 i Australian Country Homes

Welcome to the summer edition of Australian Country Homes. Like most Australians, we’re relishing the chance to kick back and take it easy during the festive season, so this issue we’ve revisited some beautiful properties that offer wonderful opportunities to spend time in the great outdoors. Some have gorgeous verandahs or decks, others splendid bushland vistas or amazing water views. All are meant to be shared with family and friends, which brings to mind the outdoor entertaining that inevitably comes with the warmer months and holiday times. Alice Griffin’s feature starting on page 42 explores the many ways to take the stress out of summer entertaining, from having the right furniture and accessories to how to best keep and serve food in peak condition. A book of verses underneath the…

What makes a great summer shindig? Sure, good weather (and wine) is a start, but there’s far more to it than that. In light of the new season, we chat all things outdoor entertaining with the stylists, furniture companies and crafters who have — both literally and figuratively — made it their business to know (and throw) memorable al fresco parties. FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD Fuzzy head or otherwise, if there’s one thing guests remember the day after the night before, it’s the food. Here’s how to get it right. Befriend the barbecue When it comes to entertaining outdoors, stylist and journalist Tamara Simoneau knows that the barbecue is her greatest ally. She suggests cooking as much as possible outside, rather than retreating indoors. “Meat is always better [when it’s cooked]…

In all probability, none of it would have happened if English restaurant critic Simon Hopkinson had been available. The year was 1997 and the then editor of Australian Gourmet Traveller Charlie (Carolyn) Lockhart was looking for a foreign judge to choose the winner of the magazine’s annual Best Restaurant in Australia Award. Simon was unavailable, so she approached Rick Stein instead. “What’s not to like about three weeks touring Australia, a country I already knew and loved, eating at the best restaurants and drinking fine wine,” the affable what-you-see-is-what-you-get chef, author and TV presenter recalls. “It didn’t take me very long to accept the invitation.” It’s a matter of history that on that trip Rick fell in love with the tour’s publicist, Sarah (Sas) Burns, whom he married in 2011.…

Travelling west across the river at Richmond, NSW, we have to turn the headlights on as we head into a typical Hawkesbury Valley misty autumn morning. As the incline increases, the motor has to work that little bit harder. Travelling up through Kurmond, Kurrajong Hills and Heights and around the bends, we roll the windows down to hear the beautiful melody of bellbirds. The fog is behind us now and the sun shines brightly in the clear crisp mountain air. We pass fruit stalls with promises of all manner of stone fruit but our destination lies higher up, just beyond the small mountain township of Bilpin, the home of the mountain apple. In 1823, a young Archibald Bell came this way with his indigenous guides, seeking an alternative route to…

When Tracey Hocking, founder and creative director of iconic Australian fashion and bedding label Lazybones, and her husband, Stephen, bought Mulberry Cottage in the Byron Bay hinterland, Tracey was escaping a stressful office job in Sydney and following her dream of creating a more authentic life. “The house was called Mulberry Cottage by the last owners after a huge mulberry tree that was in the backyard,” Tracey says. “Sadly, most of it fell down after a lot of rain — and minutes after our young son had ridden his little bike under it! It’s a typical small farmhouse, built mainly from timber milled on the property. Most of the internal lining boards are teak, which is incredibly hard, though it’s sad so many of the original old trees were cut…

While the lives of American actor and singer Gwyneth Paltrow and Western Australian farmer and caterer Sam Aurisch may seem worlds apart, they actually have a common bond in their backyard pizza ovens. The Hollywood star and occasional cookbook author is on record as saying a wood-burning pizza oven at home may be a luxury, but it’s one of the best investments she’s ever made. And when it seems like half the district gathers most weekends at Kumanka, the home Sam shares with her husband, Scott, and children, Maddi and Harry, near Bruce Rock in the WA Wheatbelt, she would be the first to agree that their decision several years ago to install a pizza oven was definitely an inspired one. “There aren’t many weekends we don’t use it,” Sam…

A coastal town on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia is attracting attention. In 1853, it became Australia’s first inland port. It’s the only place in the southern hemisphere where steamboat meets steam train. The town is also home to an international wooden boat festival, has slow-food certification, acts as a gateway to many coastal walks and neighbours the McLaren Vale wine region. What more could visitors to Goolwa wish for, other than a good night’s sleep? The initial lure for the Watsons was the fraternity they encountered while sailing their wooden boat on weekend stints from Adelaide. Quickly, they discovered like-minded people with an interest in history and heritage. They devised a plan to make a permanent move to Goolwa, channelling their energy towards the hospitality industry. “In 2001,…

It’s hard not to have visions of Popeye the Sailor Man when Gary Mason’s name comes up. There’s no waft of pipe smoke, no trace of maritime tattoos but there’s something all-conquering about him and his lifestyle aboard retired tugboat Leo. He’s a marine celebrity of sorts, without the bulging muscles and bravado, spreading good cheer and goodwill on the waters of the Fleurieu Peninsula. He admits he’s already waved at five kayakers and a yacht that came close to his Goolwa mooring this morning and hand-fed the ducks that appeared on his deck. On cue, the steam train linking the Murray River to the sea travels right past his boat with a salutary toot. Built in 1882 in Sydney, 58-foot Leo (incidentally all wooden boats take the pronoun “her”)…

The Wedding Nest is a boutique wedding gift registry specialising in unique gifts that are design- and style-focused, and not available on other registries. This is the registry for people who don’t want vanilla. The owners work hard (and love doing so) to source global pieces that are leading the way in design and showcase brands that do the same. Register online to view an extensive, yet well-edited, collection of beautiful homewares, statement furniture pieces and unique artworks, as well as all the registry basics. theweddingnest.com.au Orange Tung wood oil is an Australian-made, nontoxic, hard-drying blend of pure tung oil and essential orange oil. It coats raw or stripped wood, leaving a durable, waterproof, weatherproof surface, which is excellent for decking, flooring and furniture. Easy to apply, it covers 15…

She jokes about it, but Heather Thompson is faintly serious about her recipe for ousting children from the nest. I listen intently in the hope I can apply her sage advice to my own situation. “The farm appeared to be a wonderful opportunity for lifestyle living,” she explains. “It was very close to a gorgeous beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula, had magnificent views and was a manageable 80 acres (32 hectares).” However, when Heather and husband, Rob, secured the purchase of Brooklyn Farm, it was not a property for the fainthearted. Settled by grain-growing pioneers in the mid-1800s — who themselves had a brood of 15 children — flora such as wattle and tea tree on the farm had been stripped, pastures were barren and the derelict farmhouse contained only…

Margaret Harwood and her husband, Kim, had been living in the Wellington Point area for 24 years and on many occasions during that time, they’d walk past a grand old timber home while strolling along the long, narrow, extremely picturesque point. “I’d always hoped that one day we’d live along the point,” Margaret recalls. “But I never imagined it would be in the very house I’d admired for so long. It’s amazing how it’s turned out. “It had come onto the market about four years previously but I couldn’t even tempt Kim to look at it until about two years later. He wasn’t interested as he thought it would be too much work and he wanted a low-maintenance, contemporary home. But once he eventually saw it, he fell in love,…

The name Bandhini is derived from the Sanskrit word banda, meaning to tie or bind, and that perfectly describes the fusion of talents from different ends of the world that Tai Schaffler has created with her soft furnishings business. A journalist in a previous life, Tai moved into fashion PR and, by extension, the world of textiles. “I actually started out doing religious studies,” she explains. “When I was 18, I gained a scholarship to study in Bangkok and I became fascinated with Jim Thompson, the American who revitalised the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and ’60s. So I seemed destined to work with handcrafted products made from natural fibres. I moved to Western Australia in the early ’80s to work for a designer and when the opportunity arose…

Though Colleen McLeod is quick to point out that she’s “no artist”, those familiar with her home and creative pursuits would disagree. In searching for a simpler lifestyle by the beach, she has developed a keen eye for the kitsch and quirky and spends her spare time making pottery, taking and developing photographs and hunting for “junk” to add to her home. “An artist I am not,” she says. “Art is just something I enjoy doing, and I am always both humbled and excited when someone else can see the energy behind a particular piece.” Perhaps just as much an artisan as an artist, Colleen’s lifestyle in the suburb of Normanville, on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, is very much focused on the things she enjoys. “I moved from Yankalilla, about…