Preserving history – from the ordinary to the extraordinary

As we go about our everyday  lives, seldom do we realise that  we are making history in some small way.

Most of us only comprehend the contribution we add to our family, town or city – even the nation – when we are much older or as the next generations look back at our accomplishments, big and small. But what we do day to day are the building blocks that assemble and create ‘tomorrow’.

Certainly, as they brought up a family of 12 and went about their daily business, Henry and Jane Smith had little inkling of what a proud legacy they were leaving their descendants and how their pioneering spirit was helping to build today’s Montville.

Stay in the home they built within the grounds of Montville Estate (montvilleestate.com.au) and you can’t help but embrace that family’s Sunshine Coast hinterland roots, admire the work of those who followed them and see how they left their mark on the quaint Blackall Range village itself.

Montville Estate is a stone’s throw  from Main Street and one of the first properties to be built before the town was settled in 1897.

Not only did the comfortable homestead act as the Smith family home, Henry and Jane also ran the area’s first Receiving Office from there between 1897 until 1910, when Henry built a separate store and post office on the corner of Main Street and Western Road. The couple continued to run these until 1913 when the businesses were then leased.

Present-day owner and manager Nichola Spain and her partner Jordan painstakingly undertook a four-year renovation project to restore Montville Estate, going above and beyond to reclaim its ‘glory days’. Their passion project, completed in late 2023, pays homage to the property’s history and old-world charm but with added layers of contemporary elegance, welcoming comfort and luxury.

The main homestead at 15 Western Avenue is a rose-coloured Queenslander, built in 1895, originally called Eastnor (named after Jane Smith’s former place of employment at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire) and now known as Eastnor House. Across the manicured lawn with circular water feature, past the firepit, is what is now affectionately called The Postman’s Cottage: an authentic Palmwoods railway cottage moved onto the estate about 1970.

Montville Estate is set back from the road, hidden from passers-by down a hedge-covered driveway, but with verandas framing hinterland views across the magnesium pool and the lush, surrounding gardens (boasting what is believed to be a 200-year-old Queensland blue gum and two jacarandas on either side of the driveway).

Ian and Jenny Russell relandscaped around the house from 1980 and for the next 30 years. Nearby Russell Family Park is named for them.

Nichola, Jordan and son Indigo also called Eastnor House home during the renovations but have now decided to permanently open the estate up to be enjoyed by those who appreciate history, fine architecture and simple pleasures.

“I have always loved older homes,” Nichola says during a tour of the estate.

“I grew up with my dad restoring old homes for as long as I can remember.

“I was literally walking through holes in floors pretty much my whole life.

“They’ve just built this big, modern house. So, when I rang them and showed them this property, (dad) was really also quite sentimental about it. How exciting being able to be a part of restoring another old home because he thought he’d probably never do it again. So, we’ve got a real appreciation for this.

“I’m from Victoria originally and I never really connected with the south end of the Coast so much. I miss all the historic old buildings I would see all the time in Victoria. So, when I came to the hinterland and there was a bit more history, I felt more at home here. “

Nichola has left her mark on the 2024 property with her interior decorating skills – an eye for detail that also helped create the vision for her parents’ latest modern home that featured on ABC-TV’s Grand Designs: Season 8, Episode 1.

She admits that plenty of “sourcing, searching and stalking” went into some of the eye-catching pieces and vintage furnishings inside and out.

Some of the homestead standouts include: the 150-year-old, original marble fireplace with ornate mirror; an historic laundry press; a century-old meat safe-cum-pantry from a Kingaroy family; colourful leadlighting between the master king room and its ensuite; patterned copper ceilings; original drawings from the 1980s, plus a framed Montville cadastral map showing initial property boundaries and allotment numbers; and an antique sideboard from an artist in Witta, upcycled with a stonemason’s marble factory offcut slab, in the main bathroom.

“We had all these pieces from old, historic homes that (my parents) had in storage because they couldn’t part with them,” Nichola says.

“So, I brought up things like mirrors to put in here.

“Our intention was always to do the cottage as accommodation and restore the home. As we continued on with our life, we realised that it wasn’t so suitable for our growing family and the time we’re at, at the moment, but it is a beautiful space to be able to share with people.

“I love Australian and I love interiors and being able to share that from the perspective of offering accommodation was a big passion of mine. The ‘wow factor’ is the house itself. Everything else just needs to complement it.”

The Long Apron dining room

As one of the Sunshine Coast’s newest uber-relaxed hinterland getaways, the 0.6-hectare (1.5-acre) estate can be booked as a whole for small gatherings and wedding parties, singularly as Eastnor House (sleeping eight) and The Postman’s Cottage (sleeping two), or half of Eastnor House. The property is a short stroll to the restaurants, cafes, boutiques, artisan galleries and curiosity shops timeless Montville is known for.

Guests can spend hours shopping and browsing Main Street, perhaps stopping to refuel and take in the glorious views for breakfast at The Edge and lunch at Poet’s Café, with a sneaky coffee and snack at Little Mays or Priscilla’s Gallery. Or, they can venture further afield to savour the tastes of Queensland’s Sunshine Pantry for paddock-to-plate dining and beverages – maybe at Flame Hill Winery, Mapleton Pub and Flaxton Gardens.

In keeping with hyper-local flavours, The Long Apron (thelongapron.com.au) – less than two kilometres from Montville Estate – is a special treat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Geoff Abel and his team at chef hatted restaurant in the grounds of Spicers Clovelly Estate are more than innovative stars of the kitchen. They are ingredient technicians, flavour scientists. and presentation artists.

The menus enliven the senses – inspired by traditional French cuisine, but with wider European influences. Pore over the three-course a la carte and five-course degustation menus, devour photos of the dishes online, and look up unfamiliar ingredients and cooking terms before your arrival to make informed choices.

Sampling the taste sensation of the Degustation Omnivore and Vegetarian menus is highly recommended for dinner.

The kitchen makes local produce the hero of the dishes, placing great importance on sourcing the best and freshest, sustainable and single-origin ingredients and developing relationships with farmers and providores (there’s even a map with the menu, showing the main suppliers and their locations within a one-hour radius).

And just like the Smiths and Nichola and Jordan at Montville Estate, the distinguished restaurant is adding to the pages of history in the Sunshine Coast hinterland story.

*The writer was a guest of Montville Estate and The Long Apron but paid for all other expenses.