Ding dong merrily on high
Today we Christmas-ed Euphemia. We put up the tree, all seven foot of it, decorated it in our chosen colour story of lime, pink and silver, and decked out a bit of tinself here and there as well.
It looks much better in real life. Any self respecting department store would be happy to have it on their floor I think.
We jazzed up the front door with some little gold bells.
This will be our first Christmas in the new Euphemia. As a nod to her previous Christmases, I also put out some decorations we found when clearing out the house last year. We have a cute reindeer with a real bell, a box of tiny glass baubles and a box of Christmas candles that are useless, but I can't stand to throw them out.
Once the decorations were done we took a drive over to Ascot to further research different styles of roof to put over the french doors downstairs to protect them from the weather.
We're looking at a roof something like this.
It needs to be something quite elaborate and pretty to break up the austerity of the side wall of the house. We are yet to add the window hoods, etc. Incidentally, this is one of my favourite houses in Ascot.
It's so understated and beautiful. It doesn't need an underground concrete carpark for 16 cars (the latest 'must have') to say 'look at me'.
On the other hand, I had to share this renovation with you. Formerly another low-key but elegant residence, it's now been tampered with almost beyond recognition. Judging by the look on a man who was walking his dog past it at the same time, we weren't the only ones appauled. Why not just work with the natural style of a house, particularly when it was as beautiful as this one. The chimney, terracotta roof, gabling and weatherboards are totally at odds with....whatever that addition is on the right hand side.
Another attraction in the Ascot hood, is the house right on top of the hill, formerly called Bishopbourne. It used to be the official residence of Brisbane's Archbishop, but now it's a private home. They have a monstrous lawn surrounded by a chain wire fence, and swanning around on the lawn is a family of peacocks, mother, father and chicks in tow. It was so windy the mother was sitting ....on her chicks....presumably to keep them from blowing off the hill.
They also have two deer and another large woolly animal, which we believe is either a llama or an alpaca. At this time of the year we refer to the deer as 'reindeer'.
This is their view.
Crazy stuff. I love it!
Thanks for the realestalk, I thoroughly enjoyed it! ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt may interest you to know that the residence you named 'Bishopsbourne' is in fact Toorak House, in Annie Street, built for James Dickson (Annie Street taking its name from his first wife). The Bishopsbourne which you accurately referred to as the former residence of the Archbishop of Brisbane is the second by that name, located in Eldernell Terrace.
ReplyDeleteI've got those same Christmas Tree Ornaments (the bauble ones) but only a few left. They've become so brittle.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Tree, I agree any department store would be happy with your tree. Mimi x
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tree. I agree with your comments on the modern renovation on that beautiful old home. I blame the Brisbane City Council ... they are so inconsistant with their decisions. I just don't understand why people do it ... if you want a modern home just go build one ... and leave the old homes for people who really appreciate them. There is a house around the corner from me in Paddington and basically they have added a box to the back of it with some stained timber slats to the sides (the timber slats are now all faded because of our harsh weather conditions which is oh so attractive). It is so out of place. I find it offensive.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I find the most offensive houses around Paddington and Red Hill are the new developer-built ones. The ones that supposedly fit seamlessly into the neigbourhood because they might have a tad of weatherboard on them. They get knocked up in a couple of months, they actually look cheap and they deteriorate at an alarming rate.
ReplyDeleteThoroughly enjoy a walk through neighbourhoods from the comfort of my own home. You're very informative. The peacocks and deer have a great view! How wacky though?!
ReplyDeleteLike your roof idea for the french doors alot.
Yes ... the new houses in the Paddington/Red Hill area you are referring to are shameful. The BCC should be embarassed it has approved such "ugliness" amongst the original beauties. I could name a couple of addresses but I won't. One near me that the owners bought for around $1.1M is only about two years old and already seems to be falling apart because of the cheap material it is made of. What is it going to look like in another two years? Friends of mine are building a new house in the same area and are going for the modern contemporary look. They have emailed me their plans and asked for my opinion ... I don't know how to say nicely that it is ugly so I don't think I'll say anything at all.
ReplyDelete