A little bit about our country cottage in York, WA

A scant history

Sunny Hill was built in 1870 and would have been the farmhouse for the surrounding farming area looking over York towards Mount Brown. We don’t know what was farmed however the region was known for wheat, sheep and sandalwood production. We still need to dig a little deeper with our local historians to see what more we can learn.

We do know that before us, there have only been two families who have called Sunny Hill home - and we know that she’s been filled with lots of happy memories during that time.

Sunny Hill - A heritage listed beauty

Sunny Hill was built in 1870 . It is heritage listed and is it one of the original farmhouses in York in Western Australia.

Jarrah verandah nook

Sunny Hill has a traditional verandah that would have originally surrounded the house - perfect to provide shade and capture the breezes. Today we have an antique sea grass chair for our guests to relax in under the shade of our Jacaranda tree.

Sunny Hill's sun room

This room was originally the verandah - it has a wonderful feature stone wall and is a perfect place to relax year around.

Original jarrah timber boards

In the old addition to the house, the jarrah boards were extended with what looks like pine. It’s created one of these beautiful little heritage elements that we love at Sunny Hill.

A country kitchen with soul

Sunny Hill’s country kitchen features original louver door kitchen, an original radiant sink and of course, an original wood fired oven. We’ve used golden wheat yellows and eucalyptus greens to enhance her charm.

The back verandah

Although a newer addition, the back verandah is built directly off the original country home at Sunny Hill.

You can see the original windows and doors which come from the parlour.

The home

The original stone cottage has been extended over time to become the old farmhouse that it is today. Over the past few years, we have been renovating her to her perfectly imperfect self. She is full of quirks and wonders - and these are all the details we absolutely love.

Here are just some of the little bits of love we have added:

The stone work on the front of the house has been restored using local stone and river sand using traditional methods by a local artisan. 

The end verandah has been rebuilt with jarrah to replace the original boards that were broken. This is now a beautiful nook to read a book or relax under the Jacarandah tree.

The house has been repainted using traditional colours in keeping with the period it was built - an antique beige and white which complement the beautiful stone. The iron work is original - a small touch of elegance for this humble cottage.

The sun room, which was the old side verandah, has been rebuilt with new windows to replace the rotten old window and all internal timbers replaced. We’ve painted the inside the golden colour of wheat and sunshine - in keeping with the name Sunny Hill. You’ll see the floor boards have been added to over time.

The kitchen has been painted - we love her quirks and we wouldn’t dare replace it with out of the box cupboards. She’s perfect in our eyes - even with a sink called Radiant which can’t be more apt for Sunny Hill!

Oh and there’s so much more to share but that’s enough for now ….

We’ll walk you through our beautiful garden next time!