The Bookcase in the Ford House Retreat
Description: Given the wall to wall and floor to ceiling bookcase, this room could be called no other name. Jenny and Ken have faithfully recreated the rich elegance and charm of times gone by, but with a special Morrocan feel. Its studded ochre coloured bedspread transposes the verdant green images framed by the two large sash windows. The fresh flowers and tiffany lamp give an extra dimension to the room. This single room is for singularly particular people, especially bibliophiles whose nocturnal reading would extend well beyond the time dictated by the setting sun.
History of the Bookcase: Built in 1896, this gracious home provides an wonderful reminder of days gone by. Set in five acres of garden & parkland, there a gentle feeling of a traditional English country garden estate. The house was built using plans of W.A.G. Walter's fathers house (Ford House in Taunton, Somerset), except that our Ford House was only one storey, and with a verandah. As such, the Bookcase would have originally been the stairwell, if another storey was contemplated. The Bookcase became the Magistrates office where he mulled over matters of importance. Behind him were shelves from floor to ceiling for legal books. These shelves still exist today. By 1930 it was a bedroom, although its life was interrupted for a while (see the section on history). It then became Kens office, until GST came in, when Ken spent more time with his computer than he did with Jenny. So, in 2002, the computer went to Kens bedroom, and the room was transformed back into the bedroom it was seventy years before.
Ford House: Comfortable chesterfield lounges, a slow ticking clock, an extensive library and a log fire lulls guests into a sense of history, as if the first magistrate of the southwest, W.A.G. Walter, was still resting in the Sitting-room. Grand Victorian drapes frame the view from the bay windows and French doors to the ancient English oak and the mighty Blackwood River. Next door, the Queensland cedar dining table is reflected by the wall cabinet filled with crystal and cup and saucer sets. This leads to the jarrah lined kitchen where limited cooking, a refrigerator and tea and coffee facilities are available. Genuine relaxation is inevitable in the century old homestead.
Breakfast is the ideal place for the retreat….. a place where you can take a walk by the river, visit the island, browse in the library or simply relax with afternoon tea. Take time on the verandah, in the intimate boutique café, or perhaps in the garden surrounding Ford House.
