Going Bush In Suburbia
Newcastle Herald
Saturday March 31, 2007
After trailblazing the way to inner city living Lynda and John Fahy have been drawn back into suburbia by a bush garden.
The Fahys were among the first people to complete a warehouse conversion in inner Newcastle when they paid $80,000 for a down-at-heel old building in Alfred Street, Newcastle East in 1988, renovated it sympathetically and resold it in 1991 for close to $500,000.Then came inner city apartment living punctuated by a period in Merewether for the former professional soccer player who played in England for Cambridge United and Oxford United and met his wife on a footie trip to Canada.After a business career which has included ownership of local McDonald franchises and real estate, the couple are now working as a husband and wife team at Ray White Real Estate, Newcastle, and are naturally pretty astute when it comes to choosing their own home.This time Lynda was motivated in her choice by a desire to be surrounded by nature and an appreciation of 1960s architecture.Asked why they chose to move to this leafy part of Charlestown with its distant views of the ocean, Lynda simply spread her hands to the leafy grounds planted with 14 separate gardens. "We have lived in cities all over the place and John never, ever wanted to live in the country and I just wanted a huge garden and lots of trees and just to escape," she says. "It feels like you're escaping as soon as you drive in."John, a former Citizens Group councillor on Newcastle council, not known for his green tendencies, has come to enjoy the setting too. He quips: "I'm sure the Greens councillors would be amazed to see me hugging trees.""Everyone else has gone into an apartment and downsized and we have upsized," he says. "People have changing demands where they like one kind of lifestyle and then they go into something else."It was a drive-by 18 months ago that first alerted Lynda to the house, planted high up and well back from the road amid the bush. "It reminded me of a Canadian house: a real Vancouver house," she says.Architect designed, the house was built for a university professor of brick with a timber gazebo in the 1960s in what Lynda considers a "golden period" for Australian architecture.Separate from the main house is a self-contained flat.The grounds were originally part of an acreage that subdivided later. It's still a large 1700 square metres and provides shelter and food for a host of native creatures tawny frogmouths, possums, kookaburras, parrots and blue tongue lizards so far.The single level house is linear in design, angled to catch the ocean breeze with wide, overhanging eves to protect it from the sun.Most of the grounds are at the front sloping away from the elevated residence with a ghost gum and three large bangalow palms which John has nicknamed "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" standing guard in front of a wide, vine-shaded patio area. Another similarly secluded outdoor entertaining area opens off the living area at the rear of the house. Every room in the house has views to trees or green spaces and is completely private. After city living, it makes a refreshing change not to share the outlook with anyone.The house has four bedrooms and what Lynda describes as "two absolutely hideous bathrooms" which turn out to be far from her description. Originals they are, but they have aged well. They are all white except for the flooring of small mosaic tiles now back in vogue (although not in their liver-brown colour). First they decided to get the de{aac}cor right in the house, repainting, changing the pendants for downlights and replacing the old bedroom carpets and window dressings. Outside the brick had already been bagged and painted an attractive grey-green Lynda describes as a reptile colour which tones well with the surrounds. Inside the navy blue and purple walls were too strong and dark for their taste. They reworked them in a soft Dulux colour, "Sandy Day". The house has interconnected living rooms and polished cypress pine flooring, both contemporary with today's styles, and none of the now-dated arches or exposed brick which came with later fashions.The living rooms are well-sized but still intimate enough to be cosy. Floor to ceiling windows on both sides of the L-shaped living area are screened by a wall of plain white sheers to one side and retro print drapes on the other. They provide a similar diaphanous effect to the original mesh curtains that hung there. Lynda says she had not wanted to put anything unsympathetic to the period into a house that has such a lovely 60s bone structure.To one side of the snug television area is a useful and unusual display and storage cabinet which Lynda built of custom wood and painted in a limewash and looks made for the space. "It's been to three houses but I love it to death," she says.John's separate study is lined with memorabilia from his sporting days. Enclosed within the living area, the study may eventually have its walls knocked out to create one large open living space. The 1960s architect signature floor-to-ceiling doorways lead from the lounge into the dining area which in turn flows into a smart kitchen with white timber slat-style cabinetry and charcoal work benches.
© 2007 Newcastle Herald