Farm House on Oxley Island, holiday accommodation
Take in the fresh country air from the comfort of this lush lodging on NSW’s Barrington Coast.
The view from the big, squashy sitting room couch is of a pastoral idyll writ large. It’s all green and gold, a river running past a private jetty and pontoon with two tinnies bobbing, a garden fire pit. Flashes of colour signal the arrival of eastern rosellas. But I can’t move from my lazy perch because I’m weighed down with a stash of beautiful books and publications, most of which focus on home design, collectables, even the art of foraging. It’s while browsing a bound edition of Country Style Homes edited by Victoria Carey, that it really hits me. I am practically lodged inside a magazine spread, surrounded by the clear and tangible evolution of a homeowner’s clever vision.
This is Farm House on Oxley, set by the Manning River on NSW’s Barrington Coast. The exact location is little Oxley Island, where owner Sherinah has injected her love of rustic rural objects and clever bowerbird finds to create an atmosphere that’s at once homely and subtly luxurious.
Out there, beyond the glossy pages of my reading platform, are 23ha to explore, paddocks to tramp about, two horses to pat, obliging chooks to give up their eggs, and nearby beaches and lakes to enjoy. A district map yields places with names as evocative as Cabbage Tree Island, Croker Oars, Ghinni Ghinni and Cundletown. Point Manning and Old Bar are within cooee but drives further afield are thwarted by dodgem courses of potholes and pre-Christmas construction work. Next time, I’m determined to turn into roads with names as inviting as Saltwater and Red Gum, Oyster Catcher and Midgy Gharret. But first, more fossicking indoors.
The palette is grey, cream, rinsed blue, flax and caramel. Brands favoured by Sherinah include MCM House bedlinens, Home Republic textured towels, cushions by Citta Design and Grown Alchemist toiletries that smell of lavender and bergamot, like a wellness spa in a bottle. There are vignettes galore, with themes from French provincial to shabby chic, and still life arrangements that speak, if not of the owner’s life, then an imaginary but credible family history. Books about treehouses and brumbies are artfully propped beside binoculars, and dried leaves in a glass jar. Umbrellas and hats on hooks are arranged by the front door, but you’ll need to consult the laundry shelves for gumboots.
Bathrooms have vintage-style tapware and metal towel stands, and I lose count of the number of little tins and mesh baskets used as various receptacles. Many objects look as if they’ve been sourced from French brocante while others are distinctly Australian. Despite such eclecticism, it all works well, even an old suitcase seemingly devoted to Bambi, filled with deer figurines and cards, placed in witty harmony under a giant “monarch of the glen” stag’s head. An old-style turntable and LPs? But, of course. Here comes Fleetwood Mac. And those swing chairs on the veranda? Cue last-century cinema seats given new life.
The five-bedroom residence, with additional accommodation on site, is long and low and rangy. It has the proportions of a ranch with wraparound veranda, but wander down to the river and look back, and it’s more like two cottages with a centrepiece pavilion deserving of the baronial “great room” tag, given its scale, raftered height and banquet-worthy table for 10.
Four king-sized guestrooms open on to the veranda as well as from central hallways, while the fifth, a madly cute children’s room with two sets of double bunks, basket of toys and an old-fashioned school desk, feels like a cubby. The main boudoir is dubbed Couples Corner and features a contemporary four-poster and is the only one that’s ensuite. Its claw foot tub and double shower are the stuff of a five-star hotel.
There are versatile options to make a party booking work for up to 16 people by incorporating a stand-alone loft building with king bed and pull-out sofa plus a one-bedroom self-contained cottage. I like this idea of an enormous gathering, probably across generations, but also the level of privacy offered if booked as a couple.
The open-plan kitchen with butler’s pantry invites communal cooking. There’s a catering company’s worth of pots and pans, crockery, glassware, cutlery and general gadgetry, plus Nespresso machine and larder basics.
The backdrop of pale tongue-and-groove timber walls throughout adds to the cottage feel, as do throw rugs, sisal mats on polished spotted gum boards and pillowy cushions.
Sherinah says she would have preferred to buy a heritage cottage but when purchasing the block, a serendipitous find, her quest was to “bring in all the old” she could to a new build. She adds she was set on “a farmhouse feel”, hence opting for barn doors sliding on rollers, floorboards and french windows.
“Little touches such as soap dispensers once used on old ships, galvanised benchtops and an inset on all the bedroom doors give the home an aged feel,” she says.
She sourced as much salvaged and reclaimed timber as possible; the hefty beams in the main room are from an old wharf in Sydney and the chunky metal lights, rather like upturned buckets, are from a cargo ship.
There’s a media room with ridiculously comfortable couches and all the apps imaginable (although most require an account-holder password). But to be on the veranda at dusk, with birds calling and the waterway blurring into shadows, feels like front-row immersion in an exclusive nature channel. Bliss.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Farm House on Oxley.
TO DO LIST
Swim and stroll
It’s about 20 minutes’ drive from Farm House on Oxley to the village of Old Bar and its eponymous (and patrolled) beach; its name refers to the shifting sandbar at the mouth of Scotts Creek. An easy walk of about 5km leads to Farquhar Inlet. Slightly less taxing is the 3km Five Islands Track from the Saltwater National Park picnic area; look for Indigenous middens and fish traps.
Drive
Turn right when exiting the property and drive to Manning Point, where the river tips into the Pacific Ocean. It’s a quintessential old-fashioned spot, with holiday flats, pelicans, caravan parks and a bowlo.
Dine
Old Bar’s stand-out dining options are Sai Thai Table and Tea (excellent curries), and Flow Bar, for late breakfasts, tapas, pizzas, clever cocktails and live music sessions. Best coffee is at Buyi Espresso Bar.