Gorgeous rammed earth cottage

Recently built, this wonderfully warm rammed earth cottage has an old-world charm rarely seen these days.

Using local materials and sturdy hardwood timbers, this cottage has a strong, enduring feel. Walls 300 mm (1 foot) thick give the cottage a feeling and reality of strength. Big beamed exposed rafters add to the strength and ambience. It will out-live all of us.

Hardwood French doors and large windows bring the fantastic view to everywhere inside.

My father, who is from Greece, says that it has the "rich" feel and charm of the mountain homes he saw as a child.

No expense was spared with fitting out this lovely home - all of the doors and windows are framed in the highest quality Yellow Stringybark timber, sourced locally in Pambula.

The floors are of the highest quality Italian tiles, which look fantastic and make the cottage very easy to keep clean. They have the added benefit of using passive solar design to gently warm the cottage on sunny Winter days.

The kitchen is fully fitted out with gas stove and oven. There is the option of having either an LPG fridge or an electric fridge. Facilities exist for either a dishwasher or a front-loading washing machine.

We set-up the cottage as open-plan to get the New York style loft feeling of light, space and openess.

The French doors open fully flat to the walls opening-up the cottage in a way which makes entertaining a delight.

The bathroom has to have some of the best views in Australia - lie back in the fully restored enamelled cast iron claw-footed bath and gaze out across the lush Bega Valley to the mountains beyond.

All fittings are high quality brass giving the bathroom a beautiful combination of the old and the new.

Imported from Mexico, the hand-basin is made of copper which has been hand-painted. The benches and sills are made from solid hardwood. High windows give the bathroom a bright open feel.

Having the choice of connecting to the mains power or becoming self-sufficient, we decided that self-powering was the way to go. Solar panels and a wind generator provide good energy to keep things running. Facilities for generator back-up are available for the occasions when the sun is hiding away.

As my husband works from home part of the week, we have high-speed satellite broadband facilities - no slow rural connections here!

Finally, for added security, all doors and windows have dead-bolts and use toughened glass. The cottage is built to Australian Standards relating to bushfire resistance.

Huge multi-purpose shed

We built a new shed last year and decided that it needed plenty of space to keep all options open. It's Deep Ocean Colorbond, steel framed, 12 metres long, 9 metres wide and 5.6 metres tall at the ridge.


It's big enough to turn into a second home!!!

Options include hay storage, workshop, stables, spare rooms, home office space (all of the above most likely).

A 22,500 litre (5,000 gallon) water tank is attached and is overflowing.

Water

When we started developing 147 RRR we knew that water security was a premium issue.

For the house, the largest water tank possible on the site was the way to go - a concrete 95,000 litre (20,000 gallon) tank. To make things easier, we had this built in-ground becoming a great entertaining area close to the house. The tank is very nearly full meaning domestic water is no issue!

As a back-up, the new shed has a 22,500 litre tank (5,000 gallon) tank which has been full for months now - so water's there for the shed or for topping-up the house tank.

As for dams, there's the smaller "Pond" which fills from run-off from the driveway. We use this to irrigate the garden.

The "Bottom" dam was the first we put in making water available for the bottom of the property if necessary. This is a good medium size dam which holds well.

The "Top" dam is our newest dam and is settling-in. When full it should hold well over 1 megalitre (a million litres).

Gardener's paradise

This is a fantastic place for gardeners, especially lovers of roses.

We've done a lot of mature tree plantings - a Claret Ash avenue up the driveway, Gleditsia in the roundabout, Chinese Elms, Plane Trees and Manchurian Pear. Red Oaks have been planted near the head of the top dam. Outside the kitchen and bathroom are Tallow Woods which have the most gorgeous foliage during Autumn.

Around the house there are Crepe Myrtles, Dogwoods, Smoke Bushes plus numerous shrubs and flowers in the garden beds. Lavender thrives.

Nearby, we've established an orchard with Almonds, Nectarines, Cherries, Peaches, Pears, Apples and Olives. Most had their first fruiting this Summer and will be bountiful providers in the future.

Horses

As you've probably worked out, we're horse people. We have three Friesian horses - "Kali' or stallion, "Zoe" our mare and "Nyx" our yearling filly.

Kali is below ... (the view is to the West and the national park).

Here's Zoe and Nyx:

Because we wanted the best home for our horses we ensured that the fencing was as safe as possible. The fixed paddocks use horsesighter wire and split hardwood posts. Rails are used closest to the house. We set-up temporary grazing paddocks using electric tape and steel posts when the grass gets long (as it really has this summer).

To train our lot, we set-up a large roundyard at the top of the property - everyone looks forward to going to "school". Zoe with my husband Andrew.

General Description of the Property

As mentioned above, the entire property is north-facing, no nasty winter shadows. It is a total of 3.94 hectares or pretty much 10 acres.

It is a gently sloping block forming a bowl with a gully in the middle. We've fenced in the gully so our goats and sheep can munch on the blackberries (and they're very efficient too!).

We've fenced two large horse paddocks with timber posts and horsesighter wire and rails, and have fenced two goat/sheep paddocks. The horse paddocks are about 1.5 acres each.

The gully and the eastern side of the property is forested with Stringybark, Grey Box, Southern Mahogany and Mountain Ash eucalypts. There are some fantastic old specimens and lots of newish regrowth.

What we also have really appreciated in 147 RRR is the mix of wildness with the manicured look of open parkland. You get a real taste of everything.

We've put in 3 dams, two large ones and one smaller one. We water the garden from the small dam - more about the dams in another post.

The grasses are a mix of very happy Kikyu and native Kangaroo Grass. Many other species also pop-up.

We have planted an orchard which has fruited for the first time this summer. We also have planted many deciduous trees around the house and shed, including a Claret Ash avenue up the drive.

What's this about a spectacular view?

Well, when we bought 147 Radium Ridge Road (147 RRR) in 2002 it was the view which did it for us. Everyone who has visited has commented on how fantastic the view is ... comments like, "you could never get used that".

The property has other great features which we've worked hard to create, but no-one can build a view such as this!

Bega Valley is like a huge bowl (apparently its an old crater) and we're located at the southern edge - so the entire property is north facing. No missing out on sunshine at anytime of the year.

We can see as far as Brown Mountain, Bemboka, Bega, Mumbulla Mountain and of course Candelo. If it weren't for Mumbulla, we'd have sea views too!!!

In Autumn, the valley fogs up and it looks like the tide has come in - the air is crisp and clear and it is all very magical.

Enough words, I'll let the photos speak ... however, they will never beat the real thing.

Our stallion "Kali" enjoying the view over breakfast. Can't get better than that.