Top Wallaby chases the next big adventure
Former Wallabies skipper Ben Mowen and wife Lauren had hoped this Queenslander would be their forever home. But the family is on the move again.
Moving has been all part of the job for the Mowen family. Not that they really mind.
After recently moving into their home in Brisbane’s southside suburb of Camp Hill, they are getting packed up for a treechange to Canberra as rugby player-turned-coach Ben Mowen takes on a new role.
The former Wallabies captain and wife Lauren both grew up in Brisbane but each of their children were born in different cities or countries. Neither has ever been afraid to take on a new opportunity to experience life.
“This was meant to be a forever home but with Ben’s career that won’t happen for another 10 years,” Lauren says with a laugh.
Ben adds: “We are so open to new experiences and different things, so it’s not that we get bored of an area, it’s just if a new experience comes up we are going to go for that. You only get one life to fill with different things.”
The family home is on the market with Ray White Bulimba principal Scott Darwon and Brandon Wortley, and will be put to auction on February 4.
The white, gabled Queenslander sits on an impressive 810sq m and has glimpses of the city. It is the ultimate family home, sturdy with five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The massive kitchen with an extra-large stone island bench connects to the open-plan living area, and the large entertainer’s deck which overlooks the lush lawn and pool area.
Examples of their past travels are scattered around their home, particularly from their five-year stint in France, enjoying the cities of Montpellier and Pau.
“In our time living in France we got to live in a village, which was really cool and it’s probably influenced the house in a lot of ways,” Lauren says.
“We’ve brought back a few of those knick-knacks. At the same time, I think we were probably looking for the next home and Camp Hill is becoming more village.”
Lauren still has her own ties to the southwestern French village of Pau. Five years ago, she opened a small Australian-style cafe called Beanz Cafe to bring Australia’s coffee culture to the French. “It was really coming together, a couple of bored housewives kicked on,” she says.
In the renovated room at the front of the house that acts as an office, playroom and guest bedroom, there is a brightly coloured artwork depicting a streetscape of coffee lovers at a cafe, which Ms Mowen believes looks just like her shop.
Downstairs is the children’s domain, with their own landing with a full lounge and gaming set-up. They have their own door to the backyard so that the sport-loving trio can run off their energy and have their own private spaces to relax.
The accidental Francophiles have other homages to their time overseas, including an old-school classroom teaching aid depicting French cities during wartime hung in the lounge room and an original poster from the 1935 Pau Grand Prix – an event still raced today.
Eleanor, Jackson and Madison, aged 10, 8 and 6, have their own opinions on the move: they’re on the fence and against (unless a horse is on offer), but Ben says he and Lauren have never been afraid to take on a new opportunity to experience life.
In Canberra, they hope to secure 10ha north of the capital around Gundaroo, and the family’s city-dwelling chooks are also likely to enjoy a treechange.
“We’re going to try to find that local land in Canberra, and we’ll live a little further out because it’s the only capital city where you can do that,” Lauren says.
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