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1992
20 December 1992
1997
15 March 1997
Historic Bristowe homestead, Lue is for sale. Set on 48 hectares east of Mudgee, Bristowe is a fine example of early Australian architecture.
Built about 1863, the stone homestead has been refurbished in a manner sympathetic to the Victorian period and overseen by Hugh Fraser, a NSW Heritage architect.
Bristowe's polished timber floors, internal kauri pine fittings, open fireplaces and large rooms typical of its era add to the ambience of this property.
There are four bedrooms - the main with ensuite, large main bathroom with claw foot bath, large sunroom, formal dining and lounge rooms, timber kitchen with ironbark centre benchtop, and an additional retreat area. Other improvements include an external stone laundry and wine storage area circa 1891, carport, a historic slab timber workshop, steel machinery shed and two- stand electric shearing shed, steel sheep yards and timber cattle yards. There is a 20-tonne silo.
Bristowe has a 22-hectare irrigation licence from the Lawson Creek and the property is subdivided into eight main paddocks.
The agent is The Property Shop Mudgee's Hugh Bateman on (O63) 72 1899. Bristowe has an asking price of $420,0002 .
1998
12 Feb 1998
Down to the wire
THE vines are ready to go to the wire. Joy and David Barrow, late of Sydney's northern beaches, have a new understanding of the literal meaning of this sentence. It marks a critical phase of their future and that of their descendants. For the Barrows have made a move which, for many city dwellers, is the stuff of dreams. They have sold their much-loved former home in Clareville and moved to Lue, a hamlet between Rylstone and Mudgee, to grow grapes.
In the course of realising their goal, they have travelled hundreds of kilometres, the bills have been paid in dozens of motels and soil and water tests have been conducted on numerous hectares of farming country in various parts of NSW.
At one point, they thought they were the purchasers of a property nearer to Mudgee but, while they were quaffing a celebratory bottle of French champagne, their prospective home was actually being signed up by another party. Shattered then, they now see this chapter as providential. It drove them to approach a couple, well-established in the district, with a plea for help.
They were soon to receive a phone call from this couple with the news that the perfect property was about to come on the market. This time, the Barrows left the cork in the champagne until after the contract of sale bore all signatures.
The ironwork on the boundary gates tells the visitor that a segment of the colonial history of NSW was written here. Under the name of the property, the number 1861 records the year that one of the branches of the Cox family, ubiquitous in the early days of European settlement, came to the area and put down roots. The lovely sandstone house they built has been revitalised in recent years and exudes a deep serenity. The Barrows' modifications have given practicality to rooms which lacked it and their collection of largely French Provincial furniture looks as though it were fashioned to be assembled in just this place.
A beautiful house is one thing, and, for the Barrows, featured large in their quest for a change of lifestyle. But, both freelance documentary-makers, Joy and David are not quite ready yet for a life of indolence, sipping gin and tonic on the veranda, basking in the wonder of an open skyline. Nor are they filthy rich; an income as well as an interest needs to be part of their plan.
The vineyard, separate from the cost of the property, represents an investment of $250,000 to date and there are still some major expenses ahead for machinery and additional water storage. They are running a small number of cattle as the newly planted vines will not yield them a cent until 2000. Only Joy and her two sons moved last year to live permanently at Bristowe Farm. David spends four days a week in Sydney, lopping a day off his otherwise unchanged professional life.
Of the multitude of adjustments they have made, one they didn't expect has been fielding a barrage of questions from other city folk who claim to share their ambition. So far, of these, the only people they know who have actually done so have sufficient capital to acquire the vineyard as a hobby, as a decorative adjunct to city living, pleasing both for them and the taxman.
But other people's interest in their move has been so pronounced that Joy is writing a book with a blend of useful information and personal anecdotes. The Barrows found that there was no shortage of technical information available but, Joy says, "You needed to know what you were about to read it."
What, for instance is a "pigtail" in vineyard parlance? And how does it feel to whack 100 kilograms of staples into hardwood posts? Or to chip the weeds out of 31 kilometres of ground beneath the young vines in 40 degree heat?
Their learning curve has been steep and costly. After they took possession of Bristowe Farm last March, deep pits dotted the paddocks and learned men from South Australia peered into them and oohed and aahed. Advising the Barrows to plant here but not there, the men went away and sent a bill for $2,500.
The vines, 18,000 of them, have been planted in the exact spot the men deemed unsuited for the purpose. Newcomers being cavalier? Not a bit. Local, and highly regarded viticulturist, Ron Sargent, the owner of Poets Corner, one of Mudgee's best known vineyards, assessed the soil where the Barrows have planted, judging it very exciting and absolutely ideal for Shiraz.
That the vines on Bristowe Farm are ready to have their main stems trained to the top trellis wire, a full season in advance of usual growth, seems to bear out his advice. That they've done so during the worst drought in decades has already earned the Barrow family a pat on the back from locals who comfort them with predictions that when the drought breaks, they will be on easy street.
It hasn't broken yet and the water supply for irrigation is perilously low. Much too low to waste on the garden which is slowly dying. House guests on arrival need lessons on water conservation and, Joy, against her sense of hospitality, asks them to bring their own bed linen to minimise water use for laundry.
This is not the only part of her city sensibility which she has had to modify. She feels her new male-dominated world is "a bit bizarre . . . the dog, the steers, the contract workers, everyone here is male".
She acknowledges that there have been times when it's been overpowering. "My forte is dreaming up documentaries and making and managing them. Management is very important here too, though men don't see this frail person's role that way."
Physical labour now dominates their lives. Although they sought a project they could pursue together, the one they've chosen is too much work for them alone. Joy's son Patrick, 20, and David Nevell, 70, their neighbour have been "the linchpin".
"Both are smart, both care and both know how to work hard. Everyone is in awe of the work they've done and think the vineyard is a year older than it is."
An area of Rylstone cemetery is dedicated to several generations of the Nevell family and David still runs his own cattle property, but the four days a week he devotes to Bristowe Farm have given him a new lease on life.
Every Sunday morning, the Barrows and their neighbour share morning tea on the veranda and brainstorm the following week's work but his interest doesn't end there. Knowing they were planning to leave the farm after a thunderstorm last year he rang and warned them not to go until they had checked their trees for lightning strike.
Incidents like this have at times made Joy feel, "Good god, there's so much to learn, am I ever going to handle all this? I've needed to be a bit humble, to admit I'm ignorant. I can't let it be scary but there's lots which is beyond my physical capacity."
Joy plans to have her book finished by March, the first anniversary of their purchase of Bristowe Farm. "The grapes will start to go to sleep about then - it seems a good point to leave the book."
Besides, she will then be flat out salvaging what she can in the garden - hopefully after rain4 .