Perhaps the highlight of a reasonably quiet Easter … apart from a couple of shopping trips with M & G … was Anzac Day. Hedy and I got back into the Golf and headed up the well worn track to Mintaro to inspect the changes at the Payne country house, and to have a bite of lunch.
Some of you may recall this old photo from our very first visit to the house in July 2008. We were amazed then, as we still are, but for different reasons now. Back then the house was essentially a freakin’ ruin, that’s the only word I could find to describe it. And by the time we first saw it the roof frame was actually sitting on it, goodness only knows what it must have looked like before that!
Contrast that with this, taken from a very similar position last Monday! There really aren’t words to describe the change and, as I said to Andy at some stage, we are not sure if we should be more impressed with the industry or the vision they have shown. The house is now at lock-up, with the roof, verandah, floors, plastering and external windows and doors all but done. Ceilings and the bathroom are the largest jobs left.
I know that I must sound like Kevin McLeod … but what has been done here is very special, it’s lovely but not ostentatious, authentic but not old fashioned. It just works as a property like not too many others I have seen.
Not that it is going to matter much what is inside, because as you can see from some of the photos below, the setting is spectacularly beautiful. Never has a couple of BBQ chooks and salad from Woolies and two bottles of local wine tasted as good as it did on Monday afternoon, sitting in the dappled shade of the huge gums just outside the front door. Picturing a game taking place on the bocce pitch a few yards away and music coming from the verandah behind us it was hard to imagine a more ideal setting for wasting an autumn afternoon!
Guys … we tip our collective hat in your direction! Add us to the list of regulars asking if the place is free for the weekend!
Leave a Reply