BY DI SNEDDON
The home itself may be just 23 years old but when stepping onto the property, this Westbrook home has an aura of European heritage and is settled in amongst its majestic natural surroundings like it was always meant to be.
Northerly faced to capture the morning sunlight, the home has been lovingly built on top of a rise amid 140 acres that is Coomalgah.
Owner, Jenny Marshall, loves the property and all it has to offer.
The view from her sitting room takes in the beauty of Mt Dyrring, Lady Gray Mount and to the north, Mount Tump. Each rise on the horizon offers unique views that capture the light differently with each passing of the hands on a clock.
Sunset and Mt Tump brings in the orange and yellow colours of the day’s end, a beauty as unique and different of that which comes with every day.
It was these surroundings that captured the heart of Jenny and her late husband, Geoff. They had been searching for a property for 12 months before coming across one of the 13 properties subdivided from the iconic Glenn Nevis property outside Singleton.
“It was definitely the property, it didn’t matter that there was no home, it was certainly the property that appealed to us,” Jenny said.
When considering the home they would build on their newly acquired property, they considered the view. The open-plan kitchen, living room and sun verandah does exactly that with a full 180 degree view from each of the facing windows and double glass doors.
There was also consideration for what they were leaving behind. Jenny and Geoff Marshall were the last full-time residents of Ravensworth Homestead. They were leaving behind a property they had lived on their entire married life, a property that had been in the family for many years and a property that was within the footprint of mine expansion.
“We would have had a mine on one side of us and a haul road out the front, we moved on,” Jenny said.
They were not under any deadline and spent time searching for their new address and the minute they walked upon Coomalgah they knew it would be there’s.
They entrusted their dream with David Stibbard from Stibbard Homes.
“We didn’t consider anyone else; we knew David’s work was exceptional and trusted him and Neil Albert to build the home we wanted,” Jenny said.
The home features open plan living areas, and the hallway entry is much wider than that traditionally built these days, and both replicate a style of living once offered at Ravensworth.
Steps leading up to the front door and surrounding gardens feature stonework retrieved from Ravensworth.
You will also find what is believed to be the first bell founded in Newcastle with the date, 1828, boldly embossed on its exterior.
Antiques passed through generations add to the heritage interior of the home enhanced by artwork and family heirlooms, each one cause for a moment of reflection of our European past.
For Jenny it is home.
She adores her caring neighbours and community spirit as much as the property’s outlook.
She enjoys that 22 head of Angus cattle are thriving on the paddocks – her boys she calls them.
She does not even mind if the creek experiences a rise resulting from recent rain. Sometimes the creek stops her from leaving the property and in all honesty, she does not mind that one little bit.
And looking out upon Mt Dyrring, Lady Gray and Tump, hearing the rustle of the wind through the abundance of trees and seeing the ripple in West Brook as it meanders through her property, who could blame her.
Coomalgah is certainly a special property, a place Jenny loves to call home.
