Simply French...exposed timber beams in the bedroom.
Marie McNamara enjoys the provincial style of a derelict farmhouse transformed into a grand country home.
It could be rural France,but it's Kyneton. We're staying in a 160-year-old bluestone stables conversion,with polished boards,exposed original timber beams,crisp white walls and tasteful French provincial decor.
From the charming attic bedroom window,the paddock below is lushly green in the early spring,and a magnificent Clydesdale horse is dozing beneath a huge old spreading pine tree. At the stallion's nose,a blue wren dances provocatively.
Traditional bathroom.Credit:Jane Reddy
Inside the Stables,it couldn't be cosier. Downstairs,the wood fire heater is glowing and pumping out the heat and the best spots are on the plump sofas crammed with designer cushions.
The view from here is of the historic meandering garden of hedges and herbs,daffodils and roses,still in winter's chilly grip.
The Stables is the work of Australia's answer to Martha Stewart (minus Stewart's conviction for insider trading),Tonia Todman (formerly of TV's Healthy,Wealthy and Wise and Good Morning Australia),and her husband,Michael,a master carpenter.
In less than six years they have transformed a derelict farmhouse,stables,tack room and gardens into a showpiece of two fully furnished,self-contained apartments,a stunning,grand restored home with a semi-commercial kitchen for catering,functions and culinary classes,and 5500 roses for florist supplies.
To be strictly accurate,the Stables never housed horses. It was originally a blacksmith's workshop that made the shoes and shod working Clydesdale horses. The attic bedroom was once the groom's sleeping quarters.