Aldona Kmiec originally moved to Ballarat in September 2010. ‘Choosing Ballarat as a base was not easy, but I really wanted to avoid traffic, have a big garden, be part of great community, and still live close to the big city’ she explains. She soon came to love Ballarat, and especially all the Victorian houses with their high ceilings, open fireplaces and ornate details. ‘Having experienced the atmosphere created in these wonderful old homes, I decided that I had to have one of my own’ she says. ‘In Poland we’re very connected to the land and a sense of place, and traditionally rarely move houses. After living out of suitcases for 12 years I really wanted a place to settle down for a bit’.
After finding this generous double fronted Victorian home close to the centre of town, Aldona knew it was time to take a leap of faith. In 2011 she purchased the property, and hasn’t looked back.
Built in 1875, the house has been an ongoing renovation project since Aldona moved in, and like most homes, she says it’s certainly ‘not finished’! Aldona’s first priority was re-stumping and rewiring the home. The main fireplace in the cosy central loungeroom was also re-established, floorboards restored and polished, and the whole house painted inside and out. Externally, the decorative cast iron fretwork on the verandah was replaced, and both front and back gardens were lovingly re-built from the ground up, and nurtured back to life.
‘You can just imagine how much energy it took, but once you embark on a renovation project, you have to be prepared to finish it and when you finish, you tend to forget those hard times pretty quickly and move on to enjoy it!’ says Aldona.
Aldona has filled her home with salvaged second hand finds, and is especially fond of fossicking in the Mill Markets in Daylesford. She is very handy (!) and loves restoring the old pieces she finds, such as her kitchen table, which came from a local mechanic workshop.
One of Aldona’s favourite details at home is the oversized photographic mural in the dining room, created using a custom wallpaper print of one of her early photographs. The image, titled ‘Café in Soler’, was printed by Pickawall in Melbourne. ‘Seeing it larger than life on my wall always reminds of where I’ve been in life, and also where I’m headed’ says Aldona.
Aldona’s proudest achievement, though, is her garden. Having grown up on a farm, her family grew potatoes, corn, wheat, and all sorts of vegetables on a large scale, equipping Aldona with lots of useful skills she has employed in establishing her garden. ‘Building the garden was a lot of hard physical work, first removing the overgrown weeds from the site, then removing the top layer of soil and replacing it with loamy soil, then building pathways and planting trees and veggies’ Aldona recalls, though she is thrilled with the results. ‘The garden is such a meditative space for me, I could not imagine living in a place without one’.
Aldona has researched a little history about her home and delights in re-telling its stories. ‘The earliest mention of the house having an owner was from around 1900, when it belonged to a woman named Harriett’ says Aldona… ‘then, in the 1920’s an eccentric Italian migrant lived in the house, and according to reports every Sunday he used to play opera at a very loud volume and then go out into the street to shoot pigeons! This gentleman may also have planted our apple tree which is more than 85 years old, and still offers delicious fruit in abundance’.
Love the personal style and story behind the Aldona and the house. Thanks for sharing.
Loved seeing a regional Vic home and enjoyed the story; history, community, and a sense of adventure!
Good on you Aldona. Your home and garden are beautiful.
One of the most inspiring posts – what a story! And the photographs are stunning, as always. Give me a home amongst the gumtrees.
A beautiful garden! I love the old brick paths around the veggie patch, and that apple tree. So lovey!
Wonderful story! Aldona has surrounded herself with beauty.
Oh, these kind of stories are my favourite! Aldona sounds like an amazing lady, and has done ample justice to such a beautiful old house.
Such a quaint home in a historic town – love the details, particularly the custom wallpaper!
The wall paper next to the dining table is brilliant, simply brilliant – my first idea is, of course, doing a trick photographic version of ‘if you could invite any 5/7 people for dinner…’ with that idea; or perhaps a kind of the last supper thing – but it really is the fantastic execution of the idea that makes it work!!
Since I’m certain the apartment is something to go by, the lady just seems so warm and wonderful!!
Congrats Lucy, this website is such a pleasure!
Thank you Lucy, Eve and Lisa-Marie. I really enjoyed sharing my story with you. I found a huge inspiration on this very blog a couple of years ago upon moving to Australia, and I have been your avid follower ever since. You’ve absolutely inspired me to renovate my place!! Thank you for doing what you’re doing, it is beautiful. And I’m glad ‘The Rat’ got a feature, it is quite an amazing little regional town!! Thank you x
Beautiful house, Cozy and full of light. I like ornate details in front of the house. They look like delicate crochet accents :) Greetings from south of Poland
What a beautiful home, Aldona! And not like others on TDF – a unique look&feel, and as a regional Victorian myself it’s great to see us represented here again! :)
Bardzo dobrze!
great interior! fresh and peaceful. pięknie Aldona! :-)
Gorgeous house and magnificent garden, but what we love most of all is Aldona’s story. In our opinion by far the best story on ‘Australian Homes’ yet. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the article, having lived in an old house for the past 30 years and still in the process of renovation can say that along with sheer hard work comes weary satisfaction. Love how Aldona has kept ‘true’ to the spirit of her house, thus making it a visual feast, but most importantly a home to live in and love.
Love that picture wall Aldona, and great story as always Lucy!
Thanks for finding such great people to share with us.
Oh gorgeous! As a Pole I’ve always loved the combination of folk country charm and modern in Polish homes. Aldona, I love the clean, uncluttered feel of your country pad. Beautiful!
Piękny dom!
…beautiful home. Thanks for sharing.
So good to see Aldona and Ballarat on TDF! A lovely bright space and her garden is awesome.
Good work Aldona!!
You are lucky to live in a beautiful country , which has a wonderful climate . I live in a small Bieżeń but I have a palm trees in garden, that grows all year round , of course I heated in winter. If you want to see them go to http://palmiarnia.info/forum2/Watek-ogrodek-kubusia_250.
Wszystkiego dobrego i powodzenia !!
greetings from Bieżeń :).
Beautiful home! Thank you for featuring someone without children for a change.
Saw Aldonna’s work on House and Garden and was very impressed.
Her work is fanastic – very artistic. Loved the idea of the photographic image used as wallpaper. So beautiful.
Would like to be on an email listing to receive updates of her work.