|
The vision of Old Leura Dairy has been a journey (and a half!).
The Worker’s Cottage was the first to be realised. A little
dilapidated cottage full of stories, memories, and friendly ghosts,
reeking of history it had to be saved. With all its whims and eccentricities
it was restored to a new glory.
Soon to follow were the newly built Straw Bale House and Studio.
“We wanted to create a place that would nurture the mind and
spirit as well as shelter the body.” Cafes hosted the many
creative brainstorming sessions with napkins providing perfect flipcharts.
The caffeine inspired frenzy yielded a wish list of features. An
eco friendly architect helped design the skeleton around which the
couple (“us!”) created the body.
The Milking Shed was the most fun of all, a real project of the
heart – “the couple” were married in it! It had
so much ambience (and odour!!) wafting out the windows it inspired
the couple to new heights. The crooked walls, old hay loft and sloping
floors only added to the overall charm.
Our most recent artistic endeavours were Moo Manor and Buttercup
Barn. Our “Naming Competition” saw 2 thrilled winners
christen the cottages with their new names. Buttercup Barn was the
first to be born; our excited guests arriving to christen it while
the door knobs were still being installed! Moo Manor came next and
was transformed from a very plain project home into a delightful,
sunny retreat.
Old Leura Dairy is a vision that has, to date, taken 8 years to
evolve. Rather than have a little piece of history destroyed we
created an integrated property around it – old with new. We
took a very run down, old ex-dairy and created a cohesive, intimate
retreat nestled amongst regenerated and landscaped gardens. The
end result is a luxurious, creative, and ever surprising sanctuary.
|
