Inside the restoration of a historic Kangaroo Valley cottage with 'beautiful bones'

Sometimes, you find exactly what you’re looking for, but not where you expected to find it.

Artist, stylist and creative director Lisa Madigan and her husband had been looking for a home in Sydney but had missed out at auction on a number of homes they really liked.

It was on their honeymoon to some of the east coast’s charming rural areas that they first considered looking further afield.

They then came across a charming two-bedroom cottage in the Kangaroo Valley. Built in the 1880s, it was once home to the local paper, the Kangaroo Valley Times.

“She had beautiful bones, but she was pretty sad,” Madigan says. “But the floorboards were just so divine, and the feel of the place was so good … we saw the potential immediately.”

The couple moved in and fully ingrained themselves in country life and the local community for the better part of a decade.

Since moving back to Sydney a number of years ago, the cottage was converted to host events and also rented out as an Airbnb. Now, they’ve put the cottage back on the market, listed with agent Nick Dale from Belle Property Berry.

While those beautiful bones remain, the rest of the cottage couldn’t look more different from when the couple first moved in. Madigan turned her creative talents to the home, gradually transforming it over the years.

Starting with some minor tweaks – “The first thing that I did was paint everything white immediately because I couldn’t handle the faded yellow and the blue trims,” she says – they later added a studio and a new industrial-style kitchen.

But it was a major renovation in the past year that brought it to its current elegant state. Madigan’s exquisite taste is on full display in the home’s beautiful furnishings, which are being sold with the cottage.

Step into the classic weatherboard home and you’ll find a fresh, open interior with luxurious touches, and charm and character at every turn.

Straight off the front patio, a versatile sunroom welcomes you with picture windows, built-in storage and display shelves. It leads into the living room with its original brick fireplace and timber accents.

Dark cabinetry in the gourmet kitchen pops against the crisp-white walls, while the adjacent dining room has luxurious custom cabinetry.

The main bedroom has ample built-in wardrobe space, while the second bedroom has large bay windows with views of the beautiful garden. A sleek, designer bathroom is spacious, with an indulgent free-standing bath.

“It still has a wonderful sense of its origin and history, but without being weighed down by that,” Madigan says.

“There’s a beautiful lightness to the building, and there’s always been that incredible sense of light and comfort and restoration. I think that that openness and charm has always been present.”

Outside, the abundant garden features a paved patio, a fire pit, and established trees, shrubs and fruit trees, which have been lovingly tended to over generations.

Located in the lush Kangaroo Valley, the cottage is a 25-minute drive from Berry, and 40 minutes from Bowral, or a short stroll from the local village and Hampden Bridge.

“It is just so green and so lush and so rejuvenating, with so many little pockets to explore,” Madigan says. “It’s a really special place.

“I think for anyone who’s travelling to the valley for the first time, it’s a ‘wow’ moment when you come around the bend and down the hill, down the mountain. And you kind of never lose that either.”

Madigan found real charm in how the region beautifully evolves throughout the seasons, and she intentionally set the cottage up to embrace it all.

“You can equally be beautifully cosy in the winter and have your port by the fireside,” she says. “Or [the cottage] opens up to almost be like a beach cottage in the summer.

“It’s really quite versatile for the seasons as well, which is something that I appreciate.”

For someone who values beauty, simplicity and elegance, and is keen to escape to the country and find true restoration, Madigan says the cottage offers its new owner plenty of joy.

“It’s a place that’s been built with heart, and it’s a place that has a beautifully rich history,” she says. “There’s a certain thing that happens when you walk through the front door. You literally just sigh and immediately relax. It’s like all the cares in the world completely dissolve.

“I think that its potential new custodian is going to connect with that quite deeply because it’s a rare thing to find in a place, and it’s already there.”

Price guide: $2 million-$2.2 million 

Private sale

Agent: Belle Property Berry, Nick Dale 0419 425 166

View property