86 Australian Country HOMES
T
here’s a special place, high in
the hills of the South Burnett’s
Bunya Mountains, where Mother
Nature’s timber soldiers stand tall
in a guard of honour for anyone who winds
up the driveway, and a chorus of colourful
locals are ever ready with a warm welcome.
Its name is Godshill, and at this altitude, it
might just be as close to heaven on earth as
you can get.
“It’s actually one of those places that’s
diffi cult to appreciate until you go up there,”
says Wes Austin, whose uncle and aunt
built it in 1995. “You meander along the
driveway, and it’s very private and you’re
wrapped in this bunya pine forest. The
wildlife is amazing, we can be on any one of
the decks and be swarmed by king parrots,
rosellas and all sorts of birds that come and
feed from your hands. And 10 metres away
there will be wallabies and joeys feeding on
the grass.”
It’s easy to see why Wes and his wife,
Tara, together with his business partner,
stepped in to buy the property from Wes’s
relatives a decade ago when they wanted
to sell. “Part of the reason for buying it was
for our family’s continued enjoyment,” he
says. “Both my grandparents’ ashes are
scattered up there as well, so it’s pretty
special to us.” In fact, Godshill has played
host to many monumental moments for
the Austin family including a wedding and
an engagement. During one of their big
family lunches, Wes decided that the time
was defi nitely right.
“Tara and I became engaged up there in
the Great Room,” he says. Now they have
two daughters, Willow and Lyla, and visit
from their home on the Sunshine Coast,
two and a half hours away, at least four or
fi ve times a year. “Our weekends usually
entail arriving on a Friday night and having
an outdoor meal at the Birdwatchers’ Bar
around the fi repit,” he says. “Saturday
morning we go for a bushwalk and playgames, followed by a long lunch around the
pizza oven.”
The Birdwatchers Bar is their quirky
moniker for an expansive deck with a
fi repit — one of Wes’s favourite parts of
the property. The area is famous for its
brilliantly coloured parrots, and Godshill
seems to have its own friendly communityThese pages: The house is designed in three zones with a separate studio, so it’s ideal for hosting large
groups of family and friends. The Austins have given it a contemporary update with the help of Wes’s
aunt, who is an artist and interior decorator and was one of the original owners. ›