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Jess Wootten and Krystina Menegazzo are both country folk at heart. They each grew up in rural areas, and have always wanted to settle in regional Victoria. They purchased their little miners cottage in Gordon, about an hour west of Melbourne, in 2014. This little weatherboard house dates back to the 1860s, and was in desperate need of some attention when Jess and Krystina bought the property. Wasting no time, this couple got straight to work, and had already pulled out all the carpet and soft furnishings in the house within the first two hours of receiving the keys!
This industrious pair proceeded to undertake a cosmetic but pretty major DIY renovation of their home – pulling down an internal wall to open up the kitchen and dining room, removing a false wall to reveal the original fireplace hidden behind, and demolishing the falling down deck to make way for a new one. New (salvaged) windows were installed to maximise the green views, floorboards were polished, and every room painted. In the spring, a veggie patch was planted, and in the summer, a little greenhouse was constructed at the bottom of the garden using all recycled materials.
Jess and Krystina both hold jobs in the city, so spend half their week in Gordon, and half in a small apartment they rent in Melbourne. At the tail end of each week, they return to their little country oasis for the weekend with a feeling of excitement they are yet to shake off. ‘Gordon is a hidden gem. It’s a great little creative community. It’s peaceful. It’s the rolling hills,’ says Jess.
For the full story and many more photos of this country home, PLUS a gorgeous little film we made about this house, do pop back and revisit the original post!
