The main house

Outdoor living is the go in Maleny





















We told Garry that we were primarily interested in a piece of land regardless of it having a house already built, on the basis that we wanted to build our own house to Kathryn's very exacting standards. We decided to buy the land before we even set foot in the house which was probably good as upon seeing it Kathryn said that she would never live in it and we had to pull it down.

The side view to the old entrance





















The new kitchen and outdoor living section








The new bathroom












But this turned out not to be an option due to the over specified concrete and steel. So we opted for a very expensive total rebuild tearing the roof off, ripping out the internal walls and stripping out everything down to the concrete floors on both levels. The total building came to 424.4 sqm













Kathryn designed all the windows using French windows opening out onto the new verandas wherever possible. The cost of the hand crafted red cedar frames were added to by the special color glass designed to fill the house with color.













New entrance looking through to view










The basic shape of the house remained the same but with the addition of the verandas, opening hall way, kitchen/dining and outdoor living area it looked and felt unrecognizable. We also rewired the the whole place laying new ducts to the main gate to get rid of the poles and laid network cables and a TV- satellite network - all of which was connected to the second house.






















We could not get true broadband here but the Government gave a grant and we now have a two way internet satellite with 1mb download and 1/2mb up link. It uses the newly launched IP Star digital satellite that has cut the delay down to 500 milliseconds so we can now make internet phone calls and use video conferencing.

Satellite on the roof










I have stuck up a Wi Fi antenna so I can get wireless internet connection to up to 1/4 mile. This means that I can use a skype service with free intercom to the house or anyone in the world who is connected to the internet via a laptop or the new mobile phones or palm's that have Wi-Fi - eat your heart out Telstra! We now download movies for $3.50 per rental.












Main bathroom









Wake up view in main bedroom










We took out the old toilet and created a second bathroom to serve the other two bedrooms and re-built the shower room and toilet downstairs which services the spare bedroom or for use with the swimming pool.

The original size










The roof came off









The old roof had to be lifted to get the angle for the verandas









The rest of the space downstairs was turned into a large laundry room and a workshop and storage space which extends for the rest of the home

The old laundry - can't think what Kathy was moaning about!









Better !!








We installed two wood burners that are very efficient in burning the old dead wood from the land that will last for many years to come. A bakers oven in the dining area and a absolute furness in the living room that can be closed down at night .

Tito has the top spot










The end result is a truly magnificent home that is strong, robust and elegant.



Second bedroom





















The second bathroom