…until the first open for inspection!

The original move from the big smoke to the country was triggered by the discovery of this beautiful old 1940’s original weatherboard farmhouse. Sitting amidst 100 year old gardens, at the end of a country lane on acreage and surrounded by dairy farms- it was a builders tree changing dream.

Within 24 hours of the first inspection it was SOLD! Only one problem, now we had to head back to Sydney and put the finishing touches on the current project…..the transformation of this 2 bedroom workers cottage in Alexandria from this to this in time for an auction in 6 weeks.

The vision in Berry was to preserve the heritage features and transform the space for contemporary family life. To swap out a rabbit warren of small spaces and ad-on’s into a seamless open plan home that flowed from the living room, onto the wrap around verandahs and into the garden. 

Years of hunting down the right recycled timber beams to mill for joinery, foraging for tumbled limestone tiles, transforming the vintage clawfoot bath by having it re-enamelled our signature dark blue and the hunting down of wicker lamp shades to make the most of the height of the old wide entry hall followed.

Next we turned our eye to the cottage at the back. Consisting of the original workers quarters, outdoor toilet and a hardy-plank extension, it needed some TLC. It was also plonked right in the middle of the potential country vista way was too close to the house. If we were to turn it into a thriving AIRbnb proposition, it needed to be moved away from the main house.

So thanks to some nifty work with a chainsaw, the loan of some railway track and the hiring of the largest crane we could find….the cottage was relocated in two parts. The original workers quarters were moved to the adjacent paddock where a straw-bale extension expanded the modest footprint into a generous 2 bedroom guest cottage (see other post for the strawbale workshop story!). While the rear extension was lined up with the corrugated iron shedding to become a spectacular home office/studio.

Now that it has come time to sell- once again the team moved into overdrive to put the finishing touches on the house with the help this time of the awesome team at South Coast Property Styling. From decision time to listing was a tight 4 weeks. Time to finish work on the office/studio, tidy up the paddocks, shedding and garden and once again we are off on the hunt for the next project.