Our Country Life Dream

For as long as we’ve been together, Gavin and have had a dream of living in a rambling farmhouse in the country, with our own work-from-home business and a bevy of cute farm animals chomping happily in paddocks surrounding the house. Our country life dream began sometime back in our twenties. It reached a point where we bought a cheap plot of land to build our dream farm. We ended up selling it when we moved to Western Australia. I’m happy now that we did. The land wasn’t good. We could never have had our dream home there.

Our second attempt occurred when the children were old enough to have left home and we were empty nesters. Gavin and I came close on that occasion. We had the land and built a stunning modern farmhouse. We made plans and I started a small business on the side along with teaching and my writing income. the house. Then the unthinkable happened. Six months in, I contracted breast cancer. We spent two years traveling to the city for my treatment. The house was beautiful but it never felt like home. It was a place of sadness for me. Weirdly, all I wanted was to return to Tasmania and live in an old sandstone house in the middle of nowhere. (Sort of like Jane Eyre or Silas Marner).

Obviously, the dream returned with us and we ended up, here, at Green Gate Farm. Mind you, it did take hundreds of viewings of decrepit old Georgian sandstone houses before that. I was smitten and would have moved to any of them, spending my days wandering the paddocks in a linen dress and being a reclusive author! (totally unrealistic country life dream). It never eventuated because we could not find a property that satisfied the criteria we had. The property had to be rural but close to a town with a supermarket and a cafe, over one hundred years old and with land attached. I became convinced we were being fussy, that we’d morphed into one of those couples on Escape To The Country who are never satisfied and end up with nothing. Until the day we saw the farm for the first time. . .

The First Time We Saw Our Country Life Dream

When we first saw the farm online, Gavin was far from keen. Don’t get me wrong, he’s as up for a challenge as I am, but the horrendous spiral staircase taking up almost the entire width of the hall and the photos of the remains of a verandah put him off. I had a feeling though. And I guess I tricked him into viewing the farmhouse. We went to see another house close by. I’d booked a viewing at the farm too without telling him.

We drove around the corner and up the land. We stood at the bottom of the path.

That was the moment we fell in love. We couldn’t stop talking about the possibilities, seeing the potential.

Despite the paddocks knee-high with blackberries, the garden that was so overgrown we could not see the house we fell in love instantly. An interior inspection revealed a room filled with poo and rubbish, monstrosity stairs in the hall, smoked glass light fixtures, and a revolting half-done makeover (which would have been better had they not bothered). It didn’t matter. We loved the house. We put in an offer the next day. Then we waited. And waited. We argued with the owners over the removal of furniture but we won the moral victory and the house was ours.

Our friends and family gasped in shock. My mother, disbelieving we could buy and, actually live in, such a hovel came to see for herself the day after we moved in. She lasted as long as it took to eat a sandwich. We’d cleaned before she arrived but even the smell of disinfectant didn’t help her see our vision. Everyone told us we were insane, that they’d never have the energy to do it, and maybe we are, but it’s funny how they invite themselves for visits now and talk about the beauty of the farm now the renovation is almost complete. Seems we won them over, too.

Our dream is alive and kicking. She’s returning to be the beautiful lady she once was. And her name is Green Gate Farm.