CREATIVE UNION
OLD COTTAGES LINKED TO A THOUGHTFUL NEW BUILD CREATE A SENSE OF PLACE IN THIS PICTURESQUE VALLEY.
This clever redesign of a farmhouse in Mudgee, NSW, links three old cottages with a clever new build.
THE GRAVEL DRIVEWAY that leads to Bowfield, 20 kilometres south-east of Mudgee, sweeps through an avenue of she-oak trees and arrives before a cottage fringed with ornamental grape vines. From here the slab timber stables are visible beyond the courtyard, but it’s not until you climb the steps through the garden that a new, low-slung building is revealed, tucked behind rubblestone cottages. It’s an arresting and practical union of old and new — three cottages, built between the mid-1800s and early 1900s, are linked to the modern dwelling by way of polycarbonate and glass corridors — and it’s exactly what owners Andrew and Tamara Bowman intended when they began work here in 2013. Prior to that, the couple and their children Tom, now 17, and 16-year-old Alice, were living three kilometres down the road on acreage, with hopes of finding a larger property to build a new home. In 2008, this 68-hectare property came up for sale and once the Bowmans discovered the beautiful old buildings, the idea of blending old and new took shape. “We knew we wanted to live in them, and for them to be part of the house, but we were really keen on building something thermally efficient and we are obsessive gardeners,” explains Tamara, 54, who, along with Andrew, 57, operates landscaping and design business Living Earth Supplies in Mudgee. Tamara and her friend, Sydney architect Caroline Pidcock, drew up the design for the new building. “We invested a lot of time in planning, with wood-fired hydronic heating, northern orientation, double glazing and deciduous shade on the north,” Tamara adds. It includes one bedroom and a large open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, which is dominated by a rammed-earth wall and features concrete flooring and benchtops made with local gravel. When considering material for the new build, Tamara and Andrew were influenced by what was readily available. “Those old buildings were built with the materials that were on the block at the time and that was really important to us — not trying to imitate the old buildings but to use what’s available at this point in time,” says Tamara. The family moved into the new house in 2014 while work began on the cottages; creating new doorways, repointing the rendered walls and improving each structure with the help of a local stonemason and plasterers. The original roof in the guesthouse was retained, while the other roofs were replaced. “We love old buildings and it was great to be able to fix these up,” says Andrew. Originally from a beef and cropping property at Coolah, the Bowmans moved to Mudgee 12 years ago and their love of plants and knowledge of landscaping meant they were well equipped to start a garden. They cut into the hill between the cottages and the stable to create a level surface and backfilled with compost made by Andrew. “We’re passionate about the benefits of ornamental trees in terms of cooling and letting in winter sun, and have layers including prunus, poplars and crabapples,” says Tamara. “Poplars are sheltering other trees that may ultimately replace them: ornamental pears, oaks >
and Chinese elms, to name a few.” To conserve water, the Bowmans have used gravel throughout the garden rather than lawn. Plants are also cut back regularly, which helps with stress in dry times and keeps them looking fresh. “This garden and house means so much to me,” says Tamara, who explains that focusing on the renovation helped her get through a difficult time when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. “It kept my mind on the future during treatment... At one point I was up there in the 40-degree heat, paving in front of the woolshed with my children and thinking there’s nothing much closer to heaven. We were having such fun and forevermore they will think: we built that.” Bowfield was named after Andrew’s childhood home in the Hunter Valley and these days the Bowmans run cattle, a mob of sheep and an alpaca, along with their two offsiders, Ballantyne, a Jack Russell foxy-cross and Pango, the labrador. In her spare time, Tamara weaves baskets in the woolshed, which she displays around the house. At work, she offers clients advice on garden maintenance and design ideas, while Andrew tackles larger landscaping projects. “We’ve always worked together and we’re lucky to have our rural life here and go off and do what we enjoy during the day. It’s our own little world and we love what we’ve created.” For more information, visit livingearthsupplies.com.au. Follow Tamara @bowfieldwoolshed on Instagram. To learn more about Mudgee, turn to On The Move on page 56.