Back in December we fell in love with a little Queensland cottage that had been advertised for removal. Even though we had agreed that we would NEVER own another Queenslander, after learning first-hand the challenges of rotten wood and asbestos boards in our last house, we both just can't get over how lovely they are.
So here we are again, with a little Queenslander, and its taken 7 months to organise to move it to our property, it arrived in two pieces a few weeks ago. Now the removalist has stumped the house and joined it back together almost seamlessly. I promised that when the removalist was finished I would take you for a tour, so please join me in a tour of the inside of our little house.
Like many Queenslanders, this house started with a wrap around veranda, which is very efficient for keeping the house cool. Over the years the parts of the veranda have been built in and extended to add the kitchen and bathroom (these would both has been separate buildings originally, kitchens had a habit of burning down). There is still plenty of veranda though, and we've orientated the house so that the built-in side ('sunroom' on the plan), faces South, so it will stay cool all year, and we can open up all the windows (fly screened!) for a lovely breeze.
Here's the current floor plan
and here's what it would had been like originally, the red is the original house, the green is the original veranda.
this is a view of the 'sunroom'
the bathroom
more bathroom
the kitchen
veranda off the kitchen
looking down the hallway from the lounge (camera on an angle, not the house!)
main bedroom - the RED carpet has to go!!
main veranda
main veranda looking to laundry, ignore all the plumbing!
Some of my favourite little bits and pieces
cupboard in the sunroom
the catches on the cupboard
art deco door latch
retro kitchen cabinets
MASSIVE pantry, so excited to fill this up!
hook out on the veranda
fancy 'breeze ways' above the bedroom doors
latches on the inside doors
old light switch
love the details on the hooks!
little latch to hold up the sash windows
windows above some of the doors swing open for more airflow
Things that are not so great
the kitchen sink is stupidly low, it will be moved....
vertical flouro lights in the bedroom. No.
plush red carpet in the lounge and main bedroom, it is in embarrassingly good condition. Also not sure if we'd like another woodstove, but this heater is nearly new.
this cut in the ceiling of the sunroom is the only evidence of the move
this is the two pieces that moved
There is LOTS of work to do inside, but first we just need to focus on the plumbing (installing rainwater tanks and septic system) and the electricity (needs to be fully rewired). Then we can think about painting in the inside and fixing up the bathroom and kitchen.
What do you think? Have you renovated an old house? Do you find their charms irresistible like we do??
More posts about our house, from moving it to the property through to moving into the house (roughly in order):
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