Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 23 i Australian Country Homes

“The central spine of the staircase links the three levels and turns what is an overwhelmingly large home into one that has connection and a sense of cosiness, which was particularly important for the sole occupant” — Kate Walker The very best houses aren’t just buildings placed on blocks of land. Rather, they’re homes that reflect the surroundings from which they rise, complementing them instead of simply casting them in shadow. This home on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is one such place. Before a recent renovation, it was a perfectly functional house designed in the 1990s — but it felt imposing. It didn’t connect with the surrounding landscape or the gorgeous aquamarine ocean that stretched out in front of it as far as the eye could see. “From a design perspective,…

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the portrait of William Dawson Grubb that hangs in the hallway at Strathroy in northern Tasmania is only an opening gambit on the life of an extraordinary man and his considerable contribution to the state’s history. The benign-looking bearded gent with the steady gaze must also have had a steely determination to make the most of the opportunities that came his way. Today William’s legacy permeates every corner of the grand old homestead where his great-great grandson, Beau Grubb, and his wife, Liz, are the current custodians. Born in London in 1817, William was just 15 years old when he arrived in Van Dieman’s Land on the Sovereign with his sister, Maria, and her husband, Henry Reed. He worked briefly for…

“Buildform Projects has excelled in restoring this beautiful heritage home, built in 1881, masterfully. The restoration, including extensions, has maintained the character of such a historic home and the workmanship required to achieve this stunning result involved the builder’s own employees and specialised contractors. This is an excellent example of restoration, maintaining many original materials and incorporating new materials, including some modern living, without compromise to the overall visual aspects of the home. An excellent renovation of integrity.” — MBA NSW judges Built in 1881, Arrowfield is a fine example of an architect-designed gentleman’s manor. The local council heritage-listed house was in need of a major restoration and the previous owners had not invested in the property for many years, a fact that was clearly evident. Buildform engaged heritage architect…

It’s shearing time at Tuckokcowie Station near Warooka on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, so the little shed on Richard and Lee-Anne Murdoch’s farm is buzzing with activity. The Merino flock, which is spread across the property’s home block and nearby holdings, is mustered and the sheep have their annual haircut before being returned to the paddocks. And the Murdochs are working dawn to dusk to see their sheep shorn and the wool classed, baled and shipped to market in Adelaide on the other side of Gulf St Vincent, some 250 road kilometres to the north and east. For the Murdochs, shearing is a culmination of the year’s work with their flock. They also run Murray Grey cattle and grow various crops including barley, wheat, lentils, faba beans, oats and hay.…

With an avalanche of ideas coming at us from magazines, home renovation shows, blogs and social media sites, we don’t have far to go to find inspiration for our bathrooms. We’ve come up with the top 20 trends we believe have durability. Creating a soothing environment using calming colours, organic textures and soft curves is the preferred style across the bathroom landscape, and it’s only getting stronger. Plant life, sustainable materials, feature walls and artistic statements are all having their moment in the spotlight as homeowners strive to create a comfortable space that is about more than basic function. So settle in as we tap the experts at Sydney Styles BK and Reece to discover the trends leading the charge into the future. 1. COLOUR CONSIDERATIONS While soothing is key…

Holidaymakers around the world have become ever more style conscious — after all, who wants to spend their hard-earned time off in an aesthetically challenged space furnished with hand-me-downs? That said, it can now seem as if the pendulum might have swung a little too far in the opposite direction … and so, at a time when many ultra-luxe holiday homes seem to be created more as a backdrop for Instagram influencers than genuinely being suited to taking time out, a reset might be in order. This discreetly charming holiday home in the quiet village of Deià, on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, provides an excellent example of just how to hit the happy medium between authentic style and rejuvenating leisure. Prior to its renovation, the house had low ceilings…

At first, Jacquie McPhee didn’t even tell her closest friends about the new love in her life. She’d emerged from a rocky romantic period with little option but to sell the monastic stone villa she and her previous partner had lovingly created on the Margaret River coastline. It was a magnificent, if not tad eccentric, building and Jacquie knew that it would take time to find the right owner. She could build a new home in the region on a block of land she had bought some years previously at Quindalup. “It was in many aspects a secret affair,” Jacquie takes up her story. “I’d long been interested in Aboriginal culture but not had the time or the wherewithal to develop it. So I rang Christie’s, Sotheby’s — all…

1. Pt Cartwright bathroom vanity, RAW Sunshine Coast rawsunshinecoast.com.au 2. Eden Clay bathmat, Linen House linenhouse.com.au 3. Natural vegetable soap, Buckley and Phillips Aromatics buckleyandphillips.com.au 4. Phoenix Vivid slimline floor-mounted mixer, brushed gold, Bathware Direct bathwaredirect.com.au 5. Anko two-tier glass jewellery box, Zellers zellers.ca 6. Muhle shaving brush M89, The Design Gift Shop thedesigngiftshop.com 7. James Lane hand and body cream, James Lane jameslane.com.au 8. Marcel bathroom accessories, Pillow Talk pillowtalk.com.au…