32 Australian Country HOMES
V
anessa Bell is pondering the
pink hue of her home. It’s
Cameo Pink — not the kind
of colour any home could
pull off , but it lends her 150-years-plus
Gothic cottage, Toronto, a sort of storybook
quality, reminiscent of a gingerbread house
trimmed with frilly vanilla frosting. The
forest green accents tie in neatly with
prettily manicured lawns and fragrant
garden beds and two conifer pines at the
entrance that have intertwined to form a
natural archway leading to the front door.
It’s all very romantic, the kind of home
you’d walk past slowly to sneak peeks
through the old windows for glimpses of
what life might be like inside. Its distinctive
pink is always what fi rst catches the eye.
“When my friend fi rst saw the house, she
asked me if I was going to be a good witch
or a bad witch,” Vanessa says. “I think the
colour suits the house, but we’ve seen oldphotos of it white and, while it looks cute
now, a diff erent colour made it much
more sophisticated.”
Since the home is protected under the
Queensland Heritage Register, Vanessa
has to call in experts before she makes
any changes. “There is some conjecture
regarding whether it is the original colour
as the history of the house reveals that
many years ago the paint was burnt off ,”
Vanessa explains of a rather terrifyingly-
risky method of days long gone. “We have
consulted a heritage architect who took
several scrapings from various places, but
unfortunately the process still didn’t reveal
the original colour.”
Born and bred in Ipswich, Queensland’s
oldest provincial city with a vast and
intriguing array of preserved historic
homes and buildings dotted all over its
undulating landscape, Vanessa came
by Toronto serendipitously. “After being
unexpectedly approached to sell my last
home, time was of the essence to fi nd a
new property,” she says. “Having trawled
the internet looking at what was for sale
at the time, the only house available for
viewing was Toronto.”
Her connection with the old home was
instant and she signed on the dotted line
to become only its ninth owner. “The
thing that really appealed to me about
Toronto was the style and architecture,”
she says. “Having previously owned a 1930s
bungalow and an 1870s Queenslander with
wrap-around verandahs, this house went
even further back in time and presented
very distinctive Gothic architecture.” Add
to that a charming interior with lofty fi rst-
fl oor ceilings, a grand and creaky wooden
staircase leading to a character-fi lled second
fl oor with sloping attic ceilings and a cute-
as-can-be balcony and it’s easy to see why
Vanessa didn’t bother looking any further.
She shares the home with her partner,
Chris, and their Retriever, Baz, and cats,
Coco and Muppet, and after revamping the
interiors to brighten it all up, the couple has
spent countless hours toiling away in theThese pages: The front verandah is a popular spot for relaxing as it captures beautiful breezes and just
the right amount of sun. Entry is through a hedge as old conifers have knotted to form a natural arch. ›