MAGIC TOUCH
IT MAY BE SMALL, BUT THIS FORMER MINER’S COTTAGE IN RURAL VICTORIA HAS CAST A MIGHTY SPELL ON ITS ENCHANTED OWNER, LUCIE SAYER.
WHEN SHE FIRST OPENED the yellow front door of this cottage in Daylesford, Victoria, Lucie Sayer, 52, knew she had come home. Like a burst of sunshine, it drew her across the threshold and into a new life. In 2017, she had moved to Melbourne from Hobart, but, instead of buying and settling down in that new city, she thought, why not fulfil a long-held desire?
“I grew up in Devon in the UK, so I always hankered after the country and knew I would move back there sooner or later – but it also had to be somewhere you could get a good coffee,” she says with a smile.
Having often visited the spa town for re-energising country air, she placed postcard-perfect Daylesford, 110km north-west of Melbourne, at the top of her shortlist for potential properties. When browsing online, she discovered this cute 1890s miner’s cottage, pretty as a picture with weatherboard cladding, sash windows, filigree-framed verandah and a hint of that seductive yellow door.
“I instantly fell in love with what I saw,” says Lucie. “And, when I walked in, it felt so calm and peaceful, especially with its native bush outlook. It was bright and open, and it sat in a generous half acre.” The luminous spring light, which fell over the house’s crisp white walls at that first viewing, sealed the deal. So smitten was she that Lucie boldly put in an offer before even approaching her bank.
Swept away by the pluses, she happily dismissed any cons that might need attention. Despite its two bedrooms, it was small, with separate living room, dining room and kitchen, all compact, and not a scrap of storage – “zero, with not a cupboard or wardrobe or shelves. It was weekender, not set up for day-to-day living.” And, with no space for a standard-size fridge, a bar fridge sufficed.
After signing on the dotted line, she eagerly began “making the place my own”. She had a hole cut in the kitchen benchtop for a full-size fridge, while a joiner installed bookshelves along the dining room wall for her extensive book collection. An Ikea wardrobe in the second bedroom addressed most of her clothing needs. Next, she pulled up the “horrible brown carpet”, revealing another challenge, the original floorboards sullied with a cream gloss paint. After much painstaking sanding, she had it stained “dark, oaky and not shiny. It made such a difference.” Plantation shutters, new curtains and new light fittings completed the refresh.
Addressing those space issues remains part of a long-term view. Lucie plans to extend the living area
– there isn’t much room for seating – and, because the north-facing back deck gets blasted by the sun, she wants to install an arbour, where she can sit in shade.
After enjoying the spaciousness of a double-fronted home in Tasmania, Lucie had to edit her furnishings, but some pieces were non-negotiable. “I wanted to retain things I loved and make them work,” she says. Such as the gilt Louis mirror bought in Hobart that now makes a statement in the dining room. “I loved it and, to my >
“Country style does not need to be raw and rustic, or Laura Ashley – I like mixing styles.”
surprise, it works beautifully on the pressed-tin walls. It goes to prove country style does not necessarily need to be raw and rustic, or Laura Ashley. I like mixing styles.” Similarly, oversize lantern pendants, bought at a garage sale of well-known artist David Bromley, intriguingly play with scale in such a small house. But perhaps most important of all was her book collection. “I am a book hoarder and would never leave any behind. And books create such a sense of cosiness and homeliness,” she says. Meanwhile, a rustic dining table is fringed by English church chairs – complete with pockets for Bibles – and bentwood chairs. “Bentwoods work with any interior.”
As she sits surrounded by these beloved objects that were partners in her past, it’s no wonder this is her favourite space in the house.
While taking care of the interiors, she also had to give the garden a lot of TLC. “It was a jungle, with the fence falling down,” says Lucie. She cleared out the front and planted it out in a formal style, with manicured buxus, cypress trees and gravel paths, while the rear, backing onto state forest and its eucalypts, she left “bushy and wild. Anything more formal would look strange against the bush.”
Before moving to Daylesford, Lucie had suffered some major heartaches. Her mother died, followed by her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Olive. But the spa town has since worked its restorative magic, as it has for many before her. “There’s something so healing about
Daylesford,” she says. “Many people here are healing or recovering in some form. Victorians used to come up here to take the waters. It still has that feeling, but it’s also buzzy, with a vibrant community and a good energy. And, with so many exiles from the city, it’s easy to meet people in your tribe. I didn’t know anyone when I arrived, but you are always meeting people, especially through your dogs.”
For the first 18 months, Lucie commuted here from Collins Street and her recruitment job. But, finding the one-hour-20-minute trip each way too tiring, she moved back into the city and now uses this as a weekender, but travels here as often as she can. Earlier this year, she married David Sayer, 55. “He loves this place as much as I do. We are up here more and more, and plan to move back here permanently.” Now, with COVID-19 restrictions and a new job that offers flexible working conditions, she can often work here – when the admittedly iffy internet allows.
While Daylesford and her charming cottage have helped shape Lucie’s new life, her past is never forgotten. She named her new home Olive’s Cottage, after her adored spaniel. “This way, I get to say her name every day,” says Lucie.
“I always hankered after the country and knew I would move back there sooner or later.”