Life has very definite ways of letting you know when the end of a current ‘chapter’ is imminent and, when Ellen was faced with this, she headed for the hills. Just three years ago, Ellen was living in a house on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. “My sons were moving out and the Japanese student boarding with us was going back to Tokyo, so I was going to be all on my own in this big modern place,” she recalls. Although she loved that area, she had always had a soft spot for the Southern Highlands, so she thought this would be just the right moment to look around down there – “by myself,” she adds, “and maybe find a new life!”
That was it...
She started going at weekends, not intending to buy anything but just to check it out – and she had already seen this house on the Internet a couple of times. “I didn’t really want a timber place but it kept coming up – like it was jumping out at me!” she laughs, “so I thought I’d better go and see it. Well, I walked in – and that was it!” She drove back to Sydney and put her home on the market – and it all worked out perfectly. Although ‘Settlers’ Cottage’ described Ellen’s new abode to a ‘T’, she says it was – in fact – the name of the company that built it 23 years ago, not the place itself. Its simplicity is the key, however – and one of the major features that attracted her. “It’s an old timber cottage in that traditional style – cedar outside and lined with pine boards inside. It’s cute and ‘colonial’-looking but when you go in, it’s got this surprise element – this ‘wild card’ feature that makes it quite outrageous!” This unexpected aspect is the high cathedral ceiling – which is why when people walk in, they exclaim: “Oh wow!’ – because from the outside, it looks like an ordinary cottage. “But it has the height to do it,” she explains, “and there’s a mezzanine level at one end that has three bedrooms, the laundry and bathroom below. And, because of the way I’ve renovated it, it looks quite modern while still having that ‘country’ feel about it. When people ask me why I bought it, I tell them I could see its potential – and what I could make of it.”
A true ‘tree-change’
Ellen comes from Holland and has lived here for 25 years. “I married an Australian I met in England – so I lived there, too, for five years. Then we came back to Australia, and that’s how I ended up here!” she beams. She trained as a fashion designer in Holland and worked in that industry for many years, travelling to Paris, London and Italy. Naturally, with this artistic background she could turn her hand to many things and, for some years, she has concentrated on mosaics, both selling her work and also teaching the craft. Using her eye for colour and design, she took to renovating the little house with gusto. When she bought it, everything was brown – so that had to go! “I painted it all inside first – and that includes the ceiling of course!” she exclaims, “and I’ve just finished painting the outside as well, so it doesn’t look anything like it did before.” She chose Bristol’s Cream Chiffon to lighten it all, picking out the timber window frames and staircase in double-strength Sandy Desert by Haymes as a contrast – and did some of the furniture to match, too. “Then I ripped out the old bathroom and put in a new one,” says Ellen, “and redid the kitchen as well. Things like that felt really strange,” she adds wryly, “because my taste is actually very modern – and yet I ended up buying this cute cottage.” She’s particularly pleased that it all blends really well though, because she didn’t want a total ‘country-style’ look.
The cherry on top
Another big part of Ellen’s ‘tree-change’ project was to convert the big double garage on the property into a studio. “It was all lined and insulated,” she says proudly, “and I installed air-conditioning too. It also has toilets and plenty of storage,” she adds. This is where she does her mosaic artwork, as well as holding classes for kids in the school holidays, so it is the centre for both her creative and professional endeavours. “I sometimes teach at the Sturt Gallery in Mittagong,” she declares, “so the move was very worthwhile in that regard too.” It seems that Ellen’s response to the kick in the butt life gave her has been an outstanding success and this is how she describes the new ‘chapter’ it produced: “I’m only about 10 minutes from Bowral in Colo Vale and although it’s classified ‘rural’, it isn’t really!” she smiles. “But it’s absolutely gorgeous here – very green and peaceful with lots of birds and wildlife. Of course I miss the beaches in Sydney but not the humid heat. It’s a completely different lifestyle and – yes – I’m very happy!” So – mission accomplished!
Overcoming challenges
Ellen redesigned the existing kitchen and bathroom herself and this involved measuring the spaces and ‘shopping around’ for relevant appliances that would fit the way she wanted. The bathroom was tiny and as the toilet was separate, she realised knocking the wall out between them would make it a decent size. “I ‘went back to the drawing board’ several times,” she grins. “I wanted a spa bath and two basins and they didn’t fit – so I scrapped the spa, and was going to put a bath where the shower was... Then I decided that was no good either! Luckily I’d set myself a budget of $2000 including labour and materials but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get it below about $2500. Then Harvey Norman had a sale and I got everything for the exact price I wanted – and they gave me a huge discount because I bought it all there!”
Materials
Kitchen – stove: DeLonghi; dishwasher: Dishlex; sink unit: Blanco; tiles: Johnson in ‘Morello’; cabinets: beech veneer; benchtop: CaesarStone, black.
Bathroom – vanity: Kohler; all fixtures & fittings – Harvey Norman.
Story by Gabrielle Baxter Styling by Amy Frost