Monday 30 July 2012

Visiting Queenslanders in the street

This morning I had morning tea with a lady who has lived in our street for 27 years. V contacted me when she stumbled upon this little old blog a few weeks ago. She was researching butterfly chairs and covers when she came across my blog posts and then realised the Sow's Ear shared her street address.

V and I have a lot in common apart from living in the same street. She and her husband have been renovating their home for over 20 years. They own one of the oldest homes on the street. It's an original 1910 two bedroom Queeenslander cottage which they have tastefully renovated while raising three children. It's such a lovely family home decorated in an eclectic style over the years with collected and found objects.

When I visited V this morning, she took me through her home and gave me a run down of its history. She had old photographs of the home which she obtained from her neighbours. She is so lucky to have photographs. There was one photograph of what the home looked like when it was first built and how the roads were just dirt.

V and her husband bought their home in the early 1980s and were even married in the backyard. It is a home which is obviously well-loved.

Here is a small snippet of V's home. I just love how the integrity of the main home is still intact even after a major renovation...that is a rare thing in this day and age.

Central hallway to the main house with bedrooms on either side.

Dining room. The casement windows with green and amber glass are original to the house.
This room was originally the lounge room and part of the bathroom prior to the renovation
Another view of the dining room.
The bedroom at the end is the master bedroom but it was originally the kitchen!
You can also see the back door which leads to the laundry and downstairs bedroom for the teenager.
This is part of a new section that was designed by a heritage and conservation architect. It adjoins the main house but is essentially a separate building to contain the living and kitchen area.

V's island bench is a salvaged church altar. It is amazing.
She also mentioned the resident ghost that periodically visits....wooohoooo....She had lots of ghost stories about certain  homes in the street...woohhooo....
 
The fire place and bay window are part of the extension. I like how it is sympathetic to the era with the use of salvaged leadlight windows and some period pieces but it is still decidedly modern in its construction

This is the front verandah. It was enclosed when V and her hubby bought the house. They've opened up one side to create a lovely seating area.
Anyway, V has inspired me to approach some of the elderly neighbours still in our section of the street. They may know more about the Sow's Ear...I just have to get over my shyness...or maybe I'll just send Jason over?

18 comments:

  1. Oh wow, what a small world. What a gorgeous home V has. I love the bay window photo and the green and amber windows look lovely too. Thanks for sharing. Hope you find out some more about the history of your place x

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  2. it's a lovely home. Love stories like that of how social media can bring the online offline and that's an amazing example.

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  3. Fantastic home. Don't be shy, go a knocking!

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  4. Wow, that house is gorgeous! Lovely how you met up over the blog. Our next door neighbor is 96 and I'd love to go talk to her about the history of our house, but she never comes outdoors and I've never actually seen her!

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  5. What a lovely home......so full of gorgeous character.
    You know people generally love to share their knowledge......especially about the old days.
    It could be more good neighbourly bonding ;o)
    Tania xx

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  6. How Cool! Her home is lovely and you can really tell how much they love living there. I can't wait to here that you have met the neighbours close to you. I feel a street party coming on. xxx

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  7. The spelling in that comment is appalling, sorry xx

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  8. If you are feeling shy, send Jason over! a very good idea! This house reminds me so much of one of our neighbours' houses on a farm near the farm I grew up on, just looking at these pictures made me feel as though I was there again in the 1970s! amazing! Mxx

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  9. Love that church alter kitchen island. Go door knocking, it will be fun.

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  10. I love having a peak inside Queenslanders, there arn't many on the net....this one is renovated very well, the kitchen is pretty awesome- the bench is very cool.
    Sar x

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  11. Just amazing..such a beautiful old girl.. X

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  12. I really like V's home. I like that it looks lived-in and comfortable and clean and tidy. I think think the church altar kitchen bench is wonderful.

    And how lovely that you both met through the blog! That's so funny. You should definitely meet some of the elderly people in your street. They may be lonely and you might cheer them up.

    I have an au pair who was silly enough to mention she saw a ghost to four impressionable children. I poo-poo ghost stories only because I enjoy my sleep and don't enjoy being woken at 3am by trembling kinder!

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  13. Thanks to V for letting us have a tour of her lovely home.

    I know what you mean about shyness - there are some local characters who've lived around the Regency Wreck all their lives and I'd love to interview them for the blog...if it weren't for that damned shyness.

    Good to see your new photo up there - your hair looks so very lustrous and lovely.

    PP x

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  14. How exciting for you to check out the glorious bones of another old girl in your street. Yes you must go and knock on a few doors to scratch up some more dirt on the sow's ear. That reminds me, where did you go first to get history on the house- I thought it was the council archives in Moorooka somewhere but I can't find it when I am searching. thanks, melx

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  15. What a beautiful home and how fantastic that V found you via the blog. It is indeed a small world!
    I have been trying to do some research on our place, but unfortunately not many older people in our street. The history officer at work found our original title so that was exciting. I will do a post when I have sorted it out more, I'd kill for an old photo of our place and am always jealous when I hear the people have pics of their homes when they were first built. I'm tragic :)

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  16. Beautiful!! Thank you and thank your neighbor for allowing you to share.

    Pat in Atlanta GA USA

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  17. Hi, V's rocking chair is Canadian - sold in Australia from about 1900 to 1910 - lovely house.

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    1. Thanks for that Anonymous - I like knowing things like that. xx

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