Take a walk around any farm across the country and you’ll likely spot an old tin shack or shed slowly crumbling in a paddock. Once sturdy, honest structures built for a hard day’s work, many are now simply a romantic postcard from Australia’s past.
Such was the fate of the 108-year-old shearers’ quarters on the Willsallen family’s farm, Widgeongully, in Jugiong, NSW, 90 minutes north-west of Canberra. The huge corrugated-iron shed and two small huts (lodgings for the overseer and cook) had been left to the elements until Yvette Smart and her partner, Ollie Willsallen, decided to give them a new direction.
The shady trellis adds a romantic touch to the outdoor setting – perfect for wine and cheese in the afternoon.
Majestic river red gums catch the last rays of light behind The Quarters.
“There had been some minor renovations done to the building in the past, but it was just sitting there and it was pretty derelict for a very long time,” Yvette, 36, says. “We saw it and thought, ‘Well, why don’t we do something with it?'”
That was in 2016, not long after Yvette, an environmental scientist, had moved to Widgeongully to live and work with Ollie, 40, who manages the mixed grazing and cropping farm. (Ollie’s mum, Rhea, also lives on the property, along with his brother, Tom, and sisters, Hadley and Coco, and their young families).
The high ceiling creates an airy feel in the living room, which is painted in Resene Half Truffle.
Having grown up on the outskirts of Goulburn, Yvette instantly felt at home on the 2023-hectare property on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River.
“I tried to live in Sydney once and I think I lasted four months!” she says, laughing. “Widgeongully has this feel to it – it’s a very special part of the world. In summer we’re down at the river nearly every afternoon, swimming.”
Ollie and Yvette with son Oki.
Cattle graze on a hillside.
It’s such a special spot that Yvette and Ollie were keen to share it with others. The couple was tossing around ideas for the quarters, such as backpackers’ accommodation or a wedding venue, when they reconnected with Ollie’s old friend, Hal Bussenschutt, and his partner, artist Fliss Dodd. Together, the friends decided to revamp it as boutique accommodation for Jugiong’s growing tourist scene.
The building was updated with a new roof, and the old tin was used on the exterior.
Dried artichokes are on display in The Quarters’ entrance.
They knew that where the buildings sit, overlooking a creek running into the Murrumbidgee, was the perfect location for a relaxed country getaway.
“It’s really picturesque with big river red gums, casuarinas and huge flocks of cockatoos that live in the area,” says Yvette. “Overlooking the hills in the afternoon when the sun sets, it’s a pretty amazing place to be.”
The original fireplace was built with bricks made on the property. The Ikea sofas feature custom slipcovers in corduroy by Bemz.
However, the run-down quarters, once basic accommodation for hard-working shearers, needed a lot of work to get it ready for paying guests.
“It was just a single skin building, so we did as much as we could to make it as comfortable as possible,” Yvette explains.
Restricted by budget and location – there aren’t many stores in the small town of Jugiong – they salvaged most of the materials, including windows that came from Yvette’s former school, Marian College in Goulburn, recycled bricks from Wagga Bricks, and doors that were part of the original building to stay true to the quarters’ heritage.
“Living out on the farm makes you resourceful,” Yvette says. “We wanted to upcycle and repurpose found objects and materials – be a bit more imaginative.”
The verandah is the best spot for watching passing kangaroos, wallabies, cattle, deer, sheep and native birds. In the garden, Yvette and Ollie planted butterfly bush and poa grass to create a native cottage garden feel.
Quiet roads and a panorama of undulating hills appealed to Yvette, who prefers rural life to city routines.
A local builder helped them get the quarters up to scratch structurally, and Hal and Fliss steered the design concept and selected paint colours. But, when life circumstances meant Hal and Fliss had to bow out of the project, Yvette and Ollie stepped up to finish the renovation and landscaping themselves. Along the way they dealt with a drought and became parents to Oki, two and a half, and Winter, three months.
Indoor and outdoor spaces merge, allowing options for entertaining and alfresco dining.
“The biggest challenge was juggling the project with farm work, which always took priority, and the addition of our first child,” Yvette says. “We spent every weekend for years working on it, so we could hardly believe it when we were finally finished!”
The slow pace had a silver lining, she adds, allowing them to refine and evolve their ideas.
Exposed brick walls, including the building’s original bread oven, are a link to the past.
Painted in Resene Triple Masala and complemented with concrete benchtops, the kitchen has a chic, Scandinavian vibe. The island bench is a table from an old train carriage, found on Gumtree.
Ever resourceful, when it came time to add the finishing touches, Yvette turned to Gumtree, antique stores and the property itself to give the interiors an early Australian feel. A fallen red gum was chopped up into rustic bedside tables; Ollie’s mum found an old map of the farm that’s now framed and sitting in the Scandi-style kitchen; and Yvette bought milk glass shades on Etsy and used number eight wire to fashion them into hanging light fixtures.
Red earth from Widgeongully was used to render the walls of the Mud Hut.
Ornamental grapevine scales the trellis, while swamp foxtail grass adds softness to the facade.
Old trestle tables that were once in the shearing shed and quarters are now right at home in the dining room and courtyard. Yvette and Ollie were also eager to highlight the building’s original fireplace and bread oven that were built with bricks made on the property.
“It was just about keeping it simple – not having too much stuff in there, which is easy on the eye, too,” explains Yvette.
Yvette made the lights in the bedroom, and sourced linen from Bed Threads.
Ceramic pots hold garden blooms.
In one of the huts, dubbed the Mud Hut, the walls are lined with earth, a project that Ollie’s brother, Tom, had begun years earlier. Yvette and Ollie loved the warm, textural finish of the mud-lining, so they refreshed the walls with “awesome red-coloured earth” from the farm.
Striking red gums.
An indulgent rainshower with a view in the Cook’s Hut.
As they finished up the project last year, Yvette, Ollie and Oki temporarily moved into The Quarters, allowing them to complete the last little jobs without disruption (their usual home is a cottage about 300 metres away). Yvette admits it was tempting to stay put in the newly luxurious space – and it’s a sentiment echoed by the steady stream of guests who now come to stay.
“It doesn’t matter who comes here, no-one ever wants to leave,” Yvette says.
Yvette and Ollie did the landscaping and used recycled bricks for the paving.
For more information, visit thequartersjugiong.com
