00:08Gawthorn's Hut is situated on our 480-acre working farm where we have grass-fed beef
00:15and haymaking using sustainable practices. Guests who come to Gawthorn's Hut absolutely
00:24love coming and staying on their own. They have their own laneway to drive up from
00:29Mudgee and their piece of Wilgowra is just for them.
00:40I'm Steph Gordon, my husband and I are the property owners of Wilgowra and the
00:44hosts of Gawthorn's Hut. Gawthorn's Hut's on the outskirts of Mudgee, a small township
00:52about three and a half hours drive from Sydney.
00:57Gawthorn's Hut was specifically designed to host on Airbnb from the get-go.
01:02Mudgee had a vibrant and existing tourism industry and we had a spot on our farm that
01:08we thought we would love to share with others. We talked as a family when we often picnicked
01:13and decided that it would be a positive use of the land there to build Airbnb type accommodation.
01:22We really wanted to build something that was a little bit different and unique with the view
01:26that doing so would get the project a lot more exposure and to do it well we knew that we
01:32had
01:33to get an architect involved. The main idea was to really create a simple robust building that was
01:39able to reference the materiality and the elements around it.
01:47So the small space is maximised by having you know limited internal walls and having a quite open plan.
01:54The only spot that's enclosed is the toilet.
02:00One of the main parts of the brief was to create an off-grid sustainable building.
02:04It was really important that we got the orientation right for the solar panels. So the 30 degree roof
02:10means that we get great output from the solar panels which was important.
02:15The building was designed with a 6.6 kilowatt off-grid solar system. We have 12 kilowatts of battery storage
02:22which is housed away on the western side of the building. You don't see any of that at all. It's
02:26behind
02:26a big opening panel. The building also has 40,000 litres of rainwater storage. 20,000 litres of that is
02:34reserved for firefighting. This building's in a bushfire prone area. The building's designed for maximum
02:41natural ventilation and with maximum insulation values where possible. Double glazed timber windows
02:48and doors are operable so the building can cross-ventilate in every direction. The flooring is a
02:54polished concrete slab. The slab was really about grounding the building in the landscape while also
02:59providing a good amount of thermal mass. We lined the building with black butt ply. We wanted something
03:08that was a little bit darker and more higher end than your normal plywood. A ceiling fan provides cooling
03:16in summer. A small wood fireplace provides heating in winter. The kitchen is fairly minimal. We built it out
03:27of some of the leftover timber from the walls and ceiling. There's a two-burner gas cooker and a fridge.
03:37The dining space itself is just an extension of the kitchen bench. Looking out over the view with a
03:43big window that can be opened for natural ventilation. The dining area also allows the space to be used as
03:50a
03:51study or workspace if required. The main idea was that a lot of the dining could really happen outside,
03:56you know, by the fire pit sitting on the concrete step outside. The bedroom has a king-size bed. We
04:04had
04:04it made locally by a furniture maker. In terms of the bed head we've used reclaimed bricks from an old
04:11chimney
04:12that we had on the property. It's quite low to the ground and it's positioned under the lowest part of
04:18the ceiling so it creates quite an intimate sleeping space. The bathroom was intended as an open space
04:27really which is about sort of maximising the feeling of space internally but it also allows good views
04:33from all angles of the property from both the bath and the shower. We can get away with that because
04:38the buildings are positioned in quite an isolated spot on a farm so there's no privacy issues with the
04:44open bathroom. The only enclosed area is the toilet. The recycled brick bed head just helps mediate
04:55between the bathroom area beyond and just giving a little bit of separation to the sleeping space.
05:03Because it was going to be guests that were using the space and when they were coming here it would
05:08typically be for the first time we just needed to be really conscious about the building being very
05:13intuitive and how it was going to be used. So things like light switches to be easily located,
05:19the kitchen appliances being able to be used without instructions.
05:25You might have guests arriving late at night after driving so the building's always set up,
05:30lighting going, possibly the fireplace roaring as a welcoming gesture.
05:39Hosting on Airbnb gave Rick and I the opportunity to value add to our farm, to also create an income
05:47stream that was more sustainable than cattle grazing on that particular piece of land.
05:53The farm's into its third generation. We feel that we're setting our farm up as a more profitable
05:59business to ensure the continuity of family ownership. What we've loved most about hosting on Airbnb
06:07is being involved in the vibrant Mudgee tourism community and having guests say that they've experienced
06:13something unique and positive that has created memories for them that they're going to take home with them.
06:20Each year we as a family have a tree planting day where we put in species local to our area
06:25in an
06:26attempt to offset a bit of our carbon use and return Wilgowra to a more bush-like setting.
06:33We're going to give our guests that experience and they can plant a tree before they leave and make
06:38their own small contribution to a greener, more eco-friendly Australia.
06:45People have busy lives and I think they need time to reset, chill and just relax and Gawthon's Hut provides
06:54that opportunity.
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