As that wonderful magazine ‘Owner Builder’ is not around any more, I realise that I shall have to continue the story of our ‘forever’ home, here…

Six years later – really? How time has flown – and I realise again and again that one of the advantages, when you are dreaming of the ideal house in the country just for you, is to have married an architect. So with this very handy inhouse expertise at our fingertips, or rather pencil tips, we have ended up with a homestead complex consisting of, for brevity, 4 bedrooms, two studies, three bathrooms, two kitchens and two living rooms, one swimming pool, two carports, one open tractor space, one garage/internal tractor space and one loft). Sound big? – yet it feels small and is easy to maintain (very important to Nancy).

The 40 acres now has three well-placed dams which we achieved by restoring the third and best one from its dilapidated and leaking self.

Blackwattle Ridge itself cuts the property in half, with the house, two dams, grazing land and an Infant Arboretum on one side of the ridge and the third dam and grazing land (oh and the 2 koala paddocks – but that’s another story) on the other.

We are so nestled remotely into the hills that I always feel as though we are a hundred miles from nowhere, with the wide-sky view overlooking the Williams River (and Dungog), amazing particularly at sunset time. However, in fact we are only 5 km from town, and within the delivery area for groceries, post and rubbish collection! We thought that was a coup in itself, when we discovered the 40 acre paddock in the first place (only possible because it was divided before 1912 – now 150 acres is the minimum).

So, to explain, particularly for friends, would-be visitors from abroad, it’s a single dwelling, but consists of two ‘pavilions’ separated by a covered walkway, the Homestead and a ‘Shedhouse’ within a shed complex, which is where we lived while we built the house, and now great for visiting friends and family.  On the eastern side of the ridge are two small ‘koala paddocks’ meant for tracking the routes of koalas through the koala corridors as a part of protecting the species. What we call the Infant Arboretum on the western side really is in its infancy, with many budding new trees, two beautiful sculptures (we think) and mown walkways through the area.

All of the buildings are contained in a 1.6acre home paddock surrounded by a dingo fence (Charlie Jack Russell was attacked walking alone when he was just 12 months old), making it safe for visiting grandkids and our two Jack Russells, with a solar-powered push-button electric gate so you don’t have to get out of the car with every coming and going.

The Homestead:

But I should explain more clearly, particularly for new friends – The Homestead has colour-bond walls and roof and stained timber cathedral ceilings, with polished concrete floors throughout. Over the top of the roof is a second ‘fly-roof’ protecting the house roof from the heat of summer.

It is surrounded by 3 metre verandahs on all four sides. Walls are mostly glass, bringing the outside in in all four directions, and our pretty new twelve-metre heated and self-cleaning swimming pool sits along the western verandah.

It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, two studies (the two that Ted wanted to make into a third and fourth bedroom), a mudroom, a modern kitchen with granite benches and open plan living for the lounge and dining areas. One of the cars sits in a carport near the eastern verandah, while Ted’s beloved truck sits in the open garage up my ‘Stairway to Heaven’, beside the shed.

We’ve also added a push-button house-length mesh screen on the western verandah, which lowers to shelter the house from those very hot summer days, without hindering the view to the west that we love so much, and so we can always live with our spectacular sunsets.

Pavilion 2, The “Shedhouse” and shed complex:

Shedhouse:

The apartment consists of two bedrooms and a shared bathroom, with an open-plan living area incorporating living dining and kitchen areas.  It is air-conditioned and a has a pot-bellied stove for snug winter evenings. A small, tiled terrace allows for easy breakfasts/barbecuing and enjoying the fresh air, specially great for the Airbnb guests whom we have come to love having.

A carport for one car sits beside the front door of the Shedhouse for whomever is staying there.

Shed Complex:

The large shed area is attached to the Shedhouse, large enough to take most pieces of earthmoving equipment, with an automated garage door.  A stairway inside leads to a loft studio above the Shedhouse, perfect for storage, and we have used it as an extra bedroom and architecture workshop for Ted.

There’s also open-sided garage area, suitable again for truck, earthmover, carport or ride-on mower, which is what we use it for.

Water and Power:

This is the great part, which we love. Blackwattle Ridge is largely ‘off-grid’, independent as to the supply of water, power and internet, but still connected to the grid for power if necessary. For water, we have one holding tank from the dam for the orchard, then 84,000 litres of rain water contained in six 20,000 litre tanks, one of which is dedicated to fire fighting, a fire extinguisher of course, a biocycle septic system, 15 kilowatts of solar panels and 16 kilowatts of battery. Starlink internet is installed too, making life so much easier than with NBN, which was super super slow, with a lot of drop-outs.

The garden has taken shape, all with plants that do not need watering – even with so many tanks, we can’t be using precious water to water the garden, so it is – what it is!

8th April, 2024, the final chapter

It’s hard to believe. Our ‘forever’ home will be ‘forever’ no more – or at least it will be for someone else to enjoy, hopefully as much as we have…

The decision is made, the die is cast. Farewell dear Blackwattle Ridge. Your spirit will always be with us. What a journey we had together…

We’ll miss these visitors 😦