"Tall Timbers"
A photo of the original cottage when we moved into at Tall Timbers in 2010
Tall Timbers
Tall Timbers is the quintessential Wooden Cottage in the Forest. There is no doubt that it tipifies love, care and the romantic atmosphere of days gone by. We are in love with the wooden cottage in the woods as well as the forest and wildlife. At Tall Timbers one can breathe and experience the peace and tranquillity of God’s creation. Tall Timbers is also the home of our horses, dogs, cats and other wildlife.
Tall Timbers is a bird paradise. Our home is flocked with parrots and on any given day more than fifty parrots of different species are visiting our garden. The icon of Tall Timbers is definitely the Kookaburra and its unmistakable call can be heard from 05h00 in the morning until dusk. One also cannot miss the call of the Southern Boobook owl which announce its presence every night.
History of Tall Timbers
Tall Timbers, the privately owned property of Johannes Jacobus De Kock and Claire De Kock in Queensland Australia, is situated in an area of natural beauty and pristine forest which forms part of Australia's Nature and Forest conservation heritage.
Tall Timbers borders the Perseverance State Forest which borders again the Crows Nest National Park. Perseverance Creek runs along the border of Tall Timbers. All this contributes to thousands of hectares of continuous forest and wildlife that starts at Tall Timbers in the south and stretches north to the upper borders of Crows Nest National Park and Lake Cressbrook. Less than 5 kilometres, to the east of Tall Timbers, on the Esk Hampton Road one finds the entrance to the Rainforest of Ravensbourne National Park. Within a 20 kilometre radius Perseverance State Forest, Deongwar State Forest, Lockyer State Forest, nestles in on the escarpment of the Great Dividing Range.
Tall Timbers is a selection of land under the Robertson land Acts of 1861, which was intended to encourage close settlement based on agriculture. The Robertson land Acts of 1861 provided for free selection of land before survey in units of between 40 and 320 acres per unit. The price of the land was one pound per acre requiring a deposit of 25% to be paid at the time of selection. The balance could be paid at will. Interest was charged and had to be paid each year. Freehold was granted when all monies owing was paid in full. Other conditions were that the selector had to live on the holding as well as make improvements, such as fencing and clearing of the land.
While 50 Acres may have been an adequate farm to provide a living for a family in England (Australia - a British colony at the time) it was far from adequate in Australia. The original units from Tall Timbers to Perseverance Creek was run as a single 240 acre dairy farm with the home block at Perseverance Creek.
In 1979 Tall Timbers became a separate property and was sold the next year to a new owner (Noel Connell) who built a small cabin at the creek for camping, then later he moved a traditional 4 room 1920"s workers cottage from Toowoomba to Tall Timbers. It is common in Queensland to save character cottages from demolition by developers by moving them to new locations. It is relatively easy to do this with the high set timber and tin early 1900"s cottages,
Tall Timbers was sold again in 1985 to a young family who lived there until 1993, when it was purchased by Mike and Gail Jones who saw the potential of restoring the cottage to its original glory. They raised their two daughters Lisa and Becky there with Lisa returning to be married under the Tallow wood trees in 2003.
Mike and Gail finished restoring the original cottage in 1997. Mike's brother Mark, a recognized N.S.W. architect then designed an extension. Mike built the extension using timber from the property and milled at the Perseverance Mill which was still operating down the road at the Perseverance creek crossing. The Jones family have a history as builders and timber workers and Mike was guided by his brothers Mark (architect) and Scott (builder) and also his father Keith as well and Keith's brother Vere.
In the early 2000's a local young couple wanted to establish an appaloosa stud at Tall Timbers. Mike decided to dust off some old bush building methods and built what were to be the stables, as tribute to Gail's recently deceased father Frank Carwardine, a soldier, craftsman, musician and inspiration. Mike and Jeff felled the trees on Tall Timbers, debarked the logs and built the pole framed structure. The holes for the posts were dug by bar and shovel, the posts rammed by hand and then joined using the traditional cob and co wire joints. The cob and co joints were achieved using a hand brace and bit to drill the holes and then a bar to twitch the wires.
Tall Timbers epitomises tradition and character. Thanks to Mike and Gail Jones the beautiful homestead at Tall Timbers has been meticulously restored and extended. Mike, Gail and the children will always be part of Tall Timbers. Rarely does one find such lovely and dedicated people.
Tall Timbers was purchased in 2010 by Johannes Jacobus De Kock and Claire De Kock. Since then more developments has occurred but the true character of an Australian rural setting has been maintained.
Tall Timbers is the quintessential Wooden Cottage in the Forest. There is no doubt that it typifies love, care and the romantic atmosphere of days gone by. We are in love with the wooden cottage in the woods as well as the forest and wildlife. At Tall Timbers one can breathe and experience the peace and tranquillity of God’s creation. Tall Timbers is also the home of our horses, dogs, cats and other wildlife.
Tall Timbers is a bird paradise. Our home is flocked with parrots and on any given day more than fifty parrots of different species are visiting our garden. The icon of Tall Timbers is definitely the Kookaburra and its unmistakable call can be heard from 04h00 in the morning until dusk. One also cannot miss the call of the Southern Boobook owl which announce its presence every night.
Tall Timbers, is situated in an area of natural beauty and pristine forest which forms part of Australia's Nature and Forest conservation heritage. It borders the Perseverance State Forest which borders again the Crows Nest National Park. Perseverance Creek runs along the border of Tall Timbers. All this contributes to thousands of hectares of continuous forest and wildlife that starts at Tall Timbers in the south and stretches north to the upper borders of Crows Nest National Park and Lake Cress-brook. Less than 5 kilometres, to the east of Tall Timbers, on the Esk Hampton Road one finds the entrance to the Rainforest of Ravensbourne National Park. Within a 20 kilometre radius Perseverance State Forest, Deongwar State Forest, Lockyer State Forest, nestles in on the escarpment of the Great Dividing Range.
I have grown up on a farm in Southern Africa and the privilege to be back in a rural setting in the forest with wildlife, where tranquillity reigns, provides me with so much peace and happiness.