COLLECTED WORKS

A love of Asian artefacts has led to a side business for the Shannons, the third generation of woolgrowers at their historic property Talmo in Bookham, NSW.

UNDULATING TERRAIN CHARACTERISED by steep hills and dramatic granite outcrops is typical of fine wool land on the NSW southern tablelands. The winding dirt drive on Chris and Margot Shannon’s 1450-hectare property, Talmo, located at Bookham, about 32 kilometres west of Yass, is no different. Rugged hills of granite and limestone meet the skyline on one side, then drop into a gentle rolling landscape dotted with eucalypts on the other. “There is nothing better than driving home,” Margot says. “Coming down the driveway fringed by the big granite boulders, with the Burrinjuck hills in the background, the big skies and not a house in sight. I always say there is no place like home.” It’s a world away from the bustling, dusty Indian streets that 52-year-old Margot and her daughter, Sophia, 24, walk together in search of local artisans willing to share their handiwork in her store, Merchant Campbell, which opened its doors in Yass two years ago. “When I’m home there is clean running water and we can go to bed in complete silence, sometimes I can hear the occasional mopoke owl, which is just lovely,” says Margot. Merchant Campbell is a carefully curated homewares store selling ethical and sustainable pieces hand-picked from small operators in mainly India and South-east Asia. “I have a lifelong fascination with other cultures and Asian history,” Margot explains. “I love the fact that we can directly support people who carry on with their skills and traditions that have been passed through generations.” It makes sense then that these artisan wares and a deep sense of tradition influence the decorating style of Talmo’s five-bedroom homestead. The house was built in the 1870s by the Armour family, who were granted the land in the mid-1800s. In an uncanny twist of fate, before coming to Talmo the Armours worked as farmhands for Margot’s great-great-great grandfather, Robert Campbell, at his property Duntroon, which is now the Royal Military College. Margot’s business was named after Robert as he was one of the first merchants to import goods from India to Australia. The Shannon family bought Talmo in 1911. Margot moved into the homestead when she married Chris in 1992; they lived there with three young children for a decade before deciding it was time to renovate when elm trees started growing up through the floor. At first glance, the front part of the home, constructed around 1890, appears to be stone but on closer inspection of the exterior walls reveals it is Wunderlich tin — decorative pressed metal panelling — in a sandstone block pattern that has been painted cream. Wunderlich is also used for the interior walls and ceilings, with each of the five bedrooms featuring a different pattern. Margot says it was important to retain these historical features, including the old stone fireplaces and the original timber section at back of the house. “We’ve rebuilt that to how it was before with tongue and groove, and corrugated iron on the outside,” she explains. “I didn’t want to take away any of the history of the house.” Chris, 52, and Margot’s favourite place is the sunroom, which was built in the 1950s. “It was added to the original house to allow for dancing at Chris’ aunt’s 21st birthday party,” Margot says. The couple’s children Sophia, George, 22, and Tibby, 19, are the fourth generation of Shannons to grow up at Talmo. While they currently live elsewhere — Sophia is in Sydney and works in public relations, George is majoring in agricultural economics at The University of Sydney and Tibby is working at school in the Cotswolds, England, for her gap year — they love coming home. “The girls tend to come home and not do too much, but George comes home in all the university holidays and works full-time for me,” says Chris. “It’s really nice to have three generations working on the same property.” For Chris, it mirrors his experience >

“There is nothing better than driving home, coming down the driveway fringed by the big granite boulders, with the Burrinjuck hills in the background, the big skies, and not a house in sight.”

growing up when he worked with his father, James, (now 80 and still involved in the farm) and his grandfather, Maurice. Today the Shannons run 9000-head of Merino sheep, which at shearing time converts to about 220 bales of 17-18 micron wool. “I love that on any given day, I get to utilise a great diversity of skills and I love the management side of the business,” Chris says. Managing also means coping with difficult times; the last 12 months has seen well below average rainfall at Talmo. Chris had to keep 6000 sheep in drought feeding lots, but good rain in May meant the sheep were put back out in the paddocks. “We are hoping that the grass will continue to grow ahead of the sheep,” says Margot. “If we get good winter rain they can stay in the paddocks.” “In a fine-wool enterprise, if we sell our ewes it’s very hard to buy that genetic quality back,” says Chris. “In fact, I would say it’s impossible. So we retain and feed them and still have them at the end of the drought. We take the view that the quickest way to get over a drought is to have full production when you come out the other side.” Drought also means careful management of Margot’s other love: the garden she has established over 26 years from a fairly blank canvas to become a beautiful place for her children, family, friends and their three corgis — Poppy, Flossy and Obi-wan Kenobi (of Star Wars fame) — to enjoy. “Everyone has a nice little aspect from their bedroom,” says Margot. “I have always found it important to be able to look out from the bedroom, through the bullnose verandah, and see a different aspect of the garden. Each morning I look out of my room and directly onto what’s growing in the garden bed. The more I work away from home, the more I love being able to see that in the morning.” Merchant Campbell is at 85 Comur Street, Yass, NSW. (02) 6226 1240; merchantcampbell.com.au

HOME BOOKHAM NSW “It was really sad to knock the old kitchen down,” says Margot Shannon. “The fireplace remains but is purely ornamental. I decorate it with fruit and flowers from the garden.” A cupboard was cleverly built into the old hearth. FACING PAGE The Shannon family have been producing fine Merino wool since 1911 at Talmo on the NSW Southern Tablelands.

HOME BOOKHAM NSW The house was built in the 1870s. Obi Wan Kanobe the corgi enjoying a walk in the garden.

The family in the garden. From left, Tibby, Chris, Sophia, George patting Obi Wan Kanobe, Margot, and Poppy, the bob-tail corgi. CLOCKWISE, FROM BOTTOM RIGHT A limited edition second state aquatint of Moonrise Fantasy by Sydney Long from 1917 above the drinks cabinet; the chicken shed dates back to 1850s; the screen belonged to Margot’s mother; Chris in the paddock; the sun loungers by the pool are from Cotswold In Out Furniture. For stockist details, see page 139.

BOOKHAM NSW HOME Bookham, west of Yass, is ideal sheep farming country. FACING PAGE Chris and George, who comes home every university holidays to work full-time at Talmo, in the stockyards.

Corgis Poppy, Flossy and Obi-wan Kenobi follow Margot around the garden. CLOCKWISE, FROM RIGHT A statue of Mao bought in Beijing stands next to Javanese ceramics; an original chimney in the paddock; the jute rug in the sunroom was sourced from a small family business in Kolkata, India, and is available from Merchant Campbell. Sofas from Coco Republic. Coffee and side tables from Domayne; chickens roaming around the garden. FACING PAGE A grinding stone from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan is displayed in the sunroom. The ‘Smoking Forbidden’ sign was Margot’s grandfather’s. For stockist details, see page 139.