- Owned by: Rick and Stephanie Gordon
- Designed by: Cameron Anderson Architects
- Built by: Callander Constructions
- Project Manager/Design Mentor: Ollie Gordon
Rick and Stephanie Gordon both hail from the Rylstone area. Having both moved around the state during their earlier years to places like Sydney and Dubbo, they've both now settled again in the Mudgee region.
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Gawthorne's Hut which sits just outside of Mudgee is a collaboration between its owners, local designers and builders. It has been open since the October long weekend and has seen consistent bookings ever since, according to Rick.
The accommodation mixes old and new with a modern and simple design that blends into its rural surroundings. Off the grid, Gawthorne's Hut is self-contained and suits up to two adults.
"We built it to capture the views. We've tried to keep it modern and partially luxurious without being overly ostentatious. So we've used natural timber lining throughout, all timber doors and windows, a polished concrete floor, timber bed, timber cabinets and bench top," Rick said of its design.
"You're in the country. And it's nice and quiet. But you're only five minutes away from the wineries and the restaurants and all the good things Mudgee has to offer."
The hut is named after the early tenant farmers in the Wilgowrah area and built close to the original Gawthorne's Hut. Bricks from an old homestead on the site were reused in the new construction.
Designer of Gawthorne's Hut, Cameron Anderson of Cameron Anderson Architects, said great care was taken to respect and incorporate the area's history in the design.
"Like with any project like this, we go through a pretty rigorous development process, where we try to understand what it is they're trying to do," Cameron said.
"With this one - the way we try and approach these buildings is for them to have a story essentially, and to have a relationship to their site. And so some of the conversations that we started having very early on... were more about the history of the Wilgowra site as a working property and to see if some of that history can be retained within the accommodation experience.
"One thing that drove that a little bit was - when we had that big storm a few years ago, when Mudgee got hit they had a significant hay shed on their property that was knocked over. And it became one of the talking points in the region about the damage that was done - and so that angled form, in a way was something that was loosely driven from that, as well as a starting point for a solar array on the roof."
More information on Gawthorne's Hut can be found at wilgowrah.com.au/gawthornes-hut-mudgee/
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