Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 19 i Australian Country Homes

Humans are drawn to fire. It’s a fact. It’s in our DNA. In America, the candle industry is worth a whopping $2 billion. So, what is it about a flickering flame that captivates our senses? According to some scientists, including anthropologist Daniel Fessler from the University of California, Los Angeles, adult fixation with fire stems from our childhood, when most in Western societies failed to master fire during their youth. Since fire was essential to our survival and evolution, some primal instinct within us is subconsciously attracted to it. This is all conjecture, and the true reason we love a crackling fire is manifold, but there’s no denying the huge uptake in domestic fireplaces over the past decade. In fact, interior designers and savvy homeowners are using fire to add…

When you’ve spent your whole life in a small country town where everyone knows everyone and community gatherings are more like big family reunions, pulling up stumps to start a new life elsewhere can be daunting. After growing up together in the central Queensland town of Clermont, Jules and Matt Fish wanted to give their three children, Ava, Hollin and Nayten, something a little different. “We loved growing up and raising our children in Clermont,” Jules says. “But we felt it was time to go and start a new adventure.” When Matt, a diesel fitter contracted to various mine companies, began spending more time away working, Jules set her sights on being closer to a city and the beach so the family would have plenty to keep them busy while…

The David Roche Foundation is currently host to Fantastical Worlds, a travelling exhibition developed by the Powerhouse, Sydney, comprising playful arrangements of old and new. The Powerhouse collection holds many objects that instil a sense of wonder. Made using a wide range of materials and techniques, they seduce with their otherworldly beauty, stimulate the imagination and shed light on how we perceive ourselves and the world. Fantastical Worlds was developed around works from four artists and designers: Timothy Horn, Alexander McQueen, Kate Rohde and Timorous Beasties. Inspired by elaborate European art styles from the past such as Baroque, Rococo and Empire, they imaginatively transform historical ideas, forms, and patterns into striking 21st century creations. Playful arrangements of new and old complement these artworks, revealing creative brilliance behind contemporary and historical…

Ryan McDonald may have grown up in Brisbane, but his earliest childhood dreams involved living in the country. He had an uncle who worked on properties around the bush and as soon as he was old enough to be taken seriously, his school holiday of choice involved helping out with cattle work. Even when he went on to complete a building apprenticeship, his eyes remained firmly on the prize of one day owning his own farm. His wife, Rebecca, grew up in Texas, a small country town in south-east Queensland, and although she attended boarding school in Toowoomba and went on to study education at university in Brisbane, she always hankered for a return to her roots. So when Rebecca and Ryan teamed up while she was still at uni,…

AXIS H1600XXL This is the ultimate in inbuilt wood fireplaces. Designed to add a touch of luxury to any space, the Axis H1600XXL makes a grand statement anywhere. Combining elegant design and incredible craftsmanship with impressive heat output and heat retention, this stunning unit will warm up any room and leave a lasting impression. Featuring an incredible 1.7 metres of viewing glass and assembled with interlocking heavy-duty firebricks, this unit was designed not only as a centrepiece to its space but as a functional source of heating. Sculpt Fireplace Collection is an Australian-owned company supplying some of the world’s most sought-after high-end luxury fireplaces, including Axis, Seguin and JC Bordelet. sculptfireplaces.com.au OLBIA Enjoy wood-heating innovation with Olbia from Euro Fireplaces. These heaters are controlled with a simple slide lever, allowing…

Strandhill on Ireland’s Atlantic Coast may not have quite the same ring to it as Hawaii’s Pipeline or Australia’s Gold Coast or even South Africa’s Jeffreys Beach, but it was the surf and sunsets that attracted cafe owners and cookbook authors Myles and Jane Lamberth to this part of the County Sligo seashore. South African-born chef Myles was working at the prestigious Headland Hotel on Cornwall’s Fistal Beach when he met Jane, “this mad Irish girl with wild blonde hair”, who was working front of house. They bonded over his quirky glasses and their mutual passion for fine food, the beach, snowboarding and surfing. “I thought Myles was the manager [he wasn’t], as he was always telling me to stop talking,” Jane recalls. “Little did he know he’d be spending…

Some pieces of jewellery are no longer worn everyday. Whether due to reasons of sentiment or style, it’s not uncommon to have an item of precious jewellery languishing at the back of your jewellery box — but wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to bring this treasure back into your current rotation? Coomber Bros Jewellers are experts when it comes to remodelling older jewellery pieces and turning them into something truly special. “We love it when clients come to us and ask to have their old jewellery remodelled into something spectacular,” Carol Schefe of Coomber Bros Jewellers says. The Coomber Bros store is located in Roma, Queensland — but you don’t have to live nearby to take advantage of this service. “Remodelling or making new rings for…

Tucked away in Pete and Robyn Law’s master bedroom at their rural home, Willabah, is an extraordinary book. Big, covered in leather, it looks like the kind of book that you’d find in a European monastery library. The pages are full of skilful drawings, hand-written texts and riddles. Bird feathers are glued in, candle wax dropped onto the pages … the attention to detail is extraordinary. “We wrote the book and made it look like it was a very old book, in leather,” Pete explains. “We poured tea on it and soaked the pages.” In the absence of a TV in the house, the Laws came up with the idea for the book that contains more than a hint of the fantasy world of JK Rowling or perhaps John Flanagan.…

Foodscaping fruiting plants into hedges is a creative way to cram more tasty organic food into a small garden — or a big one, for that matter. And, from a design perspective, there’s the colour and interest of fruit and flowers. You may even inspire passersby. Speaking more generally, hedges can screen out ugly views and noise, add privacy and windbreaks, define boundaries and create garden rooms. Repeated elements tend to be more visually relaxing than using different plants in the one hedge. Edible hedges don’t have to be straight vertical walls but can be circular, flowing, low as well as tall, and used to border trees or garden beds. Before you hit the nursery, here’s a few things to consider. Plant selection Morag Gamble, founding director of the Permaculture…

The year gone by has seen calming tones, timber features and a trend toward high-end products dominate the market. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the bedroom in 2022 is destined to be a luxurious place of peace that also celebrates the homeowner. When designing your bedroom, Sophie Pickett-Heaps, co-head of design at Stockland, suggests starting with the end use in mind. “When designing and styling your home, the most important aspect is understanding the purpose of the space — which, in the case of a bedroom, is to support that all important thing that many of us don’t get enough of: sleep,” she says. “Bedroom trends are always evolving, but the basics remain the same: calming colour palettes, warm and comfortable textiles, and mixed textures. That is,…

LE FORGE FURNITURE AND DECORATION Le Forge Furniture and Decoration is also known as The Museum of Everything. It offers visitors one of the few remaining truly great in-store experiences, with an absolutely enchanting showroom brimming with curios and rarities from antiques to garden urns, outdoor steel furniture, chandeliers, ceramics and uniquely beautiful objet d’art. The large indoor-outdoor showroom at Willoughby, on Sydney’s lower north shore, is an inspiring destination to enjoy as part of a great day out. Le Forge Furniture and Decoration is open from Tuesday to Saturday. Call 0468 759 200 or email info@leforge.com.au for more information. leforge.com.au HUNTER ORGANIC COTTON THROWS AND CUSHION COVERS Introducing a knitted throw and cushion cover collection in the finest organic cotton. Super soft to the touch, the Hunter Organic Cotton…

As Mary Woodward tells it, frogs and papermakers have lots in common as they both love sloshing around in water. The former school teacher and now frog expert, and her electronics technician husband, Chris, live amazingly full, creative lives in a sustainable house they built for themselves in the Perth Hills. Although they didn’t know it until much later, Mary and Chris were born within a few hundred kilometres of each other in northern America — Chris grew up in Philadelphia and Mary was born to English parents in Toronto. Chris came to WA with his family in the ’50s. They bought a mixed orchard they called New Hope at Sawyers Valley and later converted it to a WA foliage and protea farm. Mary went back to England for teachers…

Just as the rings on a tree reveal much about its past and the conditions it’s lived through, you can read much into the layers of history of a property through its garden developments and house alterations. The homestead and garden at Noojee Lea, the country estate of Charles Curran AC and his wife, Eva, near Canowindra in central-western NSW, are a case in point. There’s the orchard, filled with citrus, stone fruit, almond, pistachio, pear, mulberry and fig trees, that’s existed since the property was first selected in the 1860s. Of course, it’s been augmented and replaced through the years, just as the homestead, which was built in the early 1900s by then owner Frederick Matthews, has evolved. It remained in the Matthews family until 1936 when it was…