Not until you have passed farms selling flowers and produce do you find the long, meandering road that leads to the home of Heidi O’Rourke.
Her home – a grand brick farmhouse with European inspired style – at Glenorie on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, is on a 1.2-hectare parcel of land, enjoys views of the Blue Mountains.
From the front verandah towering gum trees are visible all around.
Gum trees line the driveway to the house.
There are no neighbours in sight, only fence lines.
That was part of the attraction for Heidi and her husband Jason, who grew up in the nearby suburbs of Annangrove and Arcadia on Sydney’s rural fringe.
Manicured hedges give the gardens surrounding the home structure.
From the property’s timber gates, there’s a view of gabled roofs and manicured grounds.
You might expect to find a formal manse at the end of the driveway, but the home is surprisingly intimate, thanks to Heidi’s passion for rustic interiors and her flair for curating collections.
Enthusiastic decorator Heidi O’Rourke crocheted the bag filled with foraged eucalyptus foliage. The hat rack, near the entrance to the kitchen, is from Early Settler.
In the sitting room, the Louis chair is one of a set that Heidi had made for her previous home, while the French portrait is from China Squirrel.
Heidi and Jason, who works in the automotive industry, bought the house in April 2008 after only one inspection.
At the time, the property market was slow and it had been for sale for almost a year.
“The previous owners had already moved out, so the house was completely empty and unloved,” Heidi says. “There were weeds growing out of the gutters and the grass was up to your knees.”
An old vice on the end of the kitchen bench reveals its former life as a workbench. It has been repurposed in this kitchen with the addition of a ceramic sink and brass tapware.
But the couple were enamoured with the pitched roofline and bush setting.
“The house just sat so well in its surroundings and the location was great,” Heidi says. “We also knew our ever-growing collection of rustic belongings would work perfectly in a house like this.”
A black feature wall modernises the otherwise traditional French provincial kitchen.
She and Jason haven’t made any structural changes to the house, which was built with a thoughtful eye in the 1990s, using reclaimed and salvaged materials — from floorboards to bricks and old French café doors.
It originally had four bedrooms — two upstairs and two downstairs — but one of the ground-floor bedrooms has been turned into a study.
“I don’t think I could live in a house without lots of greenery,” Heidi says. “I never set out to collect urns, but I do have quite a lot.”
The couple spent their first year getting the house in good order, fixing broken fences, replacing rotten stairs and taming the garden.
During that time they realised the property lacked an entertaining area, so in 2009 they designed and built an outdoor ‘room’ that took almost 12 months to complete.
It was a worthwhile addition and is now used all year round.
“It really is an outdoor living room that you can just hose out if you need to,” Heidi says. “It was definitely one of our best decisions.”
The fireplace in the outdoor room is made from recycled bricks found in a Lakemba demolition yard.
The kitchen’s island bench was replaced, but other than that most of the changes inside the house have been cosmetic, such as painting the walls and cabinetry.
Rather than renovating, Heidi has focused on adding texture to the interior, using furnishings found on visits to flea markets and country swap meets.
“I like a house that feels lived in,” she says. “I rarely buy an item for a specific spot. I’ll buy something because I love it and worry about where to put it later.”
“I love the kitchen,” Heidi says. “It’s a unique space with loads of natural light, which makes it a joy to be in.”
The kitchen features a vintage workbench fitted with a sink.
She gravitates towards rustic pieces, with nothing too bold, and is hands-on when it comes to adding details to her home, whether that means stencilling blanket boxes or crocheting string bags.
“The surrounding bushland is a huge influence,” says Heidi, who also enjoys decorating her home with foraged finds from bushwalks and country drives. “My previous homes have been a lot more refined.”
The secondhand kitchen table is small but works perfectly for Heidi and Jason. The woven bowl is from Mowgli Studio.
The large garden was another drawcard when the couple bought the property, and it continues to occupy a great deal of their time.
Heidi and Jason enjoy spending time outdoors, shaping and maintaining the land.
“We’re not into anything too fussy,” she says. “We prefer hedges and specimen trees — they give the garden good structure.”
Heidi painted the master bedroom with Dulux Antique White USA, hung simple curtains and laid sisal carpet. The rustic sign above the bed was found at Mitchell Road Antique & Design Centre.
They have planted a lot of trees and look forward to watching them mature.
“The conditions are not ideal, with tank water and sandy soil… It’s a labour of love, but it does give us a lot of enjoyment.”
Louie the toy poodle enjoys a nap on the guest bed, which was painted with Porter’s Paints Chalk Emulsion in Triple Lead. The wall colour is Taubmans Gaiety Tan.
In 2014, the couple bought a 180-hectare property near Mudgee, in the central west of NSW, and try to spend at least one weekend a month there.
Their Mudgee home, which Heidi describes as “a two-bedroom cabin”, is still in the early stages of rejuvenation, while Glenorie is closer to the way they want it. “No house of mine is ever finished… they just evolve,” she says.
The guest room is upstairs and has views towards the Blue Mountains.
For now, the couple are happy to potter away on weekends. And then there is life to enjoy — entertaining in their outdoor area and taking in the sunsets over the distant Blue Mountains.
“We feel very lucky to live here,” Heidi says. “We like the bush, and the peace and quiet, but we’re only one hour from Sydney — it’s the best of both worlds, really.”
Heidi and Louie walk up the driveway toward the house. Before Heidi and her husband Jason purchased the home, it was unloved and had been on the market for a year. Today, simple redecorating and minor renovations have transformed it into a beautiful country home once more.
