39A Turners Lane

Jaspers Brush NSW 2535

Tucked away in a private corner of Jaspers Brush on a five acre block, this contemporary architect-designed home enjoys tranquil rural views and protection from westerly winds. A large and thriving vegetable garden and fruit trees are testament to the current owners??? interest in organic food and providing a healthy lifestyle for their three young daughters.
Andrew and Joanna Munro, both social workers, bought the land in 1997 and intended to build a kit home or project home. That plan soon got squashed by Andrew???s cousin Angus Munro, an architect living and practising in Brisbane. ???He explained that an architect-designed home doesn???t need to be any more expensive than a project home as long as you select standard windows etc and avoid costly finishes,??? recalls Andrew. ???Then he drew up the plans in exchange for a case of wine!???
Both Joanna and Andrew grew up on the North Shore in Sydney but often visited Joanna???s grandmother in Berry. Andrew, who has a background in horticulture, fell in love with the area Joanna had been visiting since childhood and the pair eventually settled on the block at Jaspers Brush for its fertile soil and proximity to both Berry and Nowra.
???We were keen on the house being environmentally friendly,??? says Andrew, ???so we incorporated solar hot water, water tanks, passive solar principles and louvre windows for cross breezes.???
Entry to the house is via a back veranda with an outdoor shower originally intended for Andrew to clean up after working in the vegetable garden or his large hothouse filled with exotic orchids but has become the favoured showering place for the girls on hot summer evenings. Inside, an airy welcoming space includes kitchen and dining area on the entry level with steps down to a living area with combustion stove and glass doors leading out to a courtyard enclosed with a beautiful stone wall inlaid with fossils.
To the right from the entry a long hallway leads past the children???s bedroom, bathroom and storage area to a two-storey wing with main bedroom and ensuite on the upper level and home office and children???s play area below with access to a small courtyard.
Outdoors, Andrew???s horticultural expertise is evident in a low-maintenance shrub garden, the veggie patch and hothouse, while an outdoor pizza oven is fired up on a regular basis for easy entertaining. ???The kids pick from the veggie garden and make their own pizzas,??? says Joanna.
The three girls, aged 11, nine and five, love to build cubby houses, ride their bikes, watch the neighbouring cows being milked and grow veggies and flowers. ???They clean up at the Berry Show every year with their veggies, artwork and eggs!??? say their parents with pride.
???This is not just a physically beautiful area,??? says Joanna. ???It???s also about the people. Berry School is just awesome and it???s a great community. It???s also easy to head to Gerroa, Gerringong or Shoalhaven Heads to fish or surf.???
The Munro family is now heading off on a new adventure ??? a caravan odyssey around Australia.
???The kids are very sad we???re moving,??? says Joanna. ???They insist that this house is an interesting house and that most houses are boring!???
???This home is so beautiful the way the sun floods in and cool breezes flow through and you can watch the wonderful birdlife in the garden,??? she adds. ???It feels very hidden away and peaceful and it???s wonderful to be able to pick things from the garden and sit down to a dinner consisting entirely of produce you have grown yourself. We really enjoy having people over and love the self-sufficiency of cutting our own firewood, bartering produce for meals at local restaurants and using all our wastewater to water the garden.???