Jenny and Ken have faithfully recreated the rich elegance and charm of times gone by in this historic home. With travel books for every end of the earth, TV and fresh flowers in every room, extra pillows, towelling robes, heated towel rails, and down filled damask doonas add to the feeling of tranquillity and peace .
Built in 1896, this gracious home provides an excellent reminder of days gone by. Set in five acres of garden & parkland, there a gentle feeling of a traditional English country garden estate. All rooms have 3.6m high ceilings. For accommodation, there is the Grand Ballroom, the Jarrah room, the Rose room, the Green Room and the Bookcase, as well as a formal dining room, lounge and kitchen. Original etchings and paintings adorn the walls. Large sash windows look onto garden, bushland and some of the 46 bird species seen at 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, watching some of the 45species of birds found.
