The Arbour Newsletter Summer 2011

Transcription

1 Our story - John & Susan Ballinger John Ballinger AM discovered The Arbour in a unique way. John, a retired Professor of Architecture, was a judge for the Shoalhaven Building Design Awards. Not only did The Arbour win the award, John and his wife Susan have now moved in! This is their story as reported in The Sunday Telegraph on the 21st of August 2011 by journalist Sally McMillan. After 25 years of running a 48ha sheep property, along with being a professor of architecture at the University of NSW, John Ballinger, AM, decided he and his clinical psychologist wife, Susan, needed a less strenuous mode of living. border leicester rams, and his research projects include the first experimental solar house in Australia at Fowlers Gap, near Broken Hill, and first solar village at Bonnyrigg; Our colleagues in the valley are what you d call farmers, he said with a chuckle. We ve been more weekend farmers, but running the property has certainly been full on. Two years ago when the couple decided they needed a smaller house and property, they looked at a number of estates more out of curiosity than anything else. Nothing took their fancy. Then last year, while acting as a judge for the Shoalhaven Building Design Awards, he came across The Arbour Berry. The noted architect and architecture award judge, who has more than 50 solar-efficient buildings and more than 150 publications including four books to his name, certainly knew what he wanted when he stumbled upon it. He built his own homestead on the Kangaroo Valley property where they bred INSIDE Our story - John & Susan Ballinger Page 1-2 Christmas Wishes Page 2 Your new home awaits Page 3 Around town - The Famous Berry Sourdough Cafe Page 4 You won t believe who it was at the Murder Mystery Dinner Page 5 The Arbour celebrates it s UDIA Award win with Residents Page 6 Are you aching yet? Page 6 You re Invited - to a BBQ Lunch at The Enclave Page 6 Image by Melanie Russell

2 Continued from front page The Arbour was an entry and ultimately took out the medium density award, against all housing, not just other villages. I went there as a visitor to assess it and was extremely impressed with everything in the entire village - the energy efficiency through out, the eco-smart features, the planning, the air and light flow and layout of the houses, he said. If I were to build a smaller home, then it s exactly how I would build it; the entire village is very well laid out, with great features. It was just nice to see somebody had set out to get it right. It s very attractive and it all just fits together. It s referred to as a retirement village, but many of the people we ve met call it a resort. We also like the lock-up-and-leave aspect. We bought a caravan a few years ago and we plan to travel a fair bit, as I gather 30 per cent of The Arbour residents do at any one time. After years of maintaining a big property, it s wonderful to think someone else will be doing it. Mr Ballinger, who continues to work on research projects, and Mrs Ballinger who continues her practice, have just settled the sale of their property and hope to move into their smart new home in October. The problem now is getting rid of everything we ve collected and accumulated over 30 years - like the big silo that holds 35 tonnes of grain. Luckily that will go to friends who breed alpacas. And while the heirlooms will go to the kids, there is a stack of other stuff in my 250 square metre shed. We ll get there but it sure will be great when we start anew the The Arbour - without the baggage. CHRISTMAS WISHES Wishing you all a very safe and happy Christmas! We thank you for your support and interest in The Arbour, Berry has been an award winning year for the The Arbour and we look forward to another great year in 2012.

3 The Arbour Newsletter Your new home awaits... Lot 31 is perfectly positioned only 20m from the 55 seat cinema, heated pool, library and coffee area of the Enclave. A Type 3 design, the latest, has struck a cord with those who like more storage both in the home and in the garage. With the high windows to the east and a living room with direct views over the connecting internal garden, the home is the last available of its type. Private, free standing home with appeal for those who like big bathrooms and more storage cupboards. For sale at $575,000 this is great buy for a brand new home in The Arbour, Berry. Lot 31 has magnificent views across the internal garden Where else do you get a brand new home with resort facilities at this price? Lot 107 is a rare acreage view home for $595,000 and the last in this current stage. A popular 2b floor plan the home has living, main bedroom and courtyard aligned to the north. Three bedrooms, high clearstory roofline for efficient ventilation of the main bedroom/ living room and so close to the stunning Trinity Garden. A home for those who value privacy, and like many of the neighbours, ideal if you can t give up acreage but can give up the maintenance. Even the neighbours tell us they are nice! Includes Miele appliances, ducted and zone controlled air conditioning, a beautiful kitchen and a guests wing for stay overs. Prices have continued to rise each stage so book in for a look at Lot 107 and see if you are ready to take the plunge. The open acreage outlook of Lot 107

4 Around town - The Berry Sourdough Cafe Anyone who has ever visited Berry would have heard of the famous Berry Sourdough Cafe. Run by Jelle and Freya Hilkemeijer, it is an artisan sourdough cafe and bakery serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in a century old building in picturesque Berry on the NSW South Coast. A group of residents of The Arbour meet every Thursday at 7.30am at the bridge for a beautiful morning walk through the town to The Sourdough for a coffee and delicious breakfast or pastry. Jelle has provided us with a very special recipe for one of his favourite cakes. It was my childhood birthday cake and my mum still makes it for me every year. We make this cake in individual portion size ocasionally in the shop. It is a wonderful summertime cake as it is light and fresh and straight from the fridge! My mum has translated the recipe from her dutch recipe collection. For more information on opening times, you can visit Quark Cake In a 22cm springform pan bake a low butter or spongecake or alternatively you can buy any spongecake and slice it to fit the base of the springform pan. Sprinkle the cake with some rum or cointreau (optional) and set aside. Ingredients you will need: 250 grams quark or smooth ricotta cheese (quark can be difficult to find sometimes but ricotta makes a good substitute) juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon 1 tin of mandarins (can be purchased at most supermarkets) 300ml fresh cream 5 gelatine sheets OR 2 sachets gelatine powder 200 grams castor sugar (optional) 1 tsp vanilla essence (optional) method: 1. Put quark or ricotta in bowl, mix in sugar, vanilla essence and orange and lemon juices. 2. Put sheets of gelatine in cold water. 3. Drain mandarins and put juice in small saucepan then warm the juices. 4. Squeeze out gelatine sheets and dissolve in warm juice, OR dissolve gelatine powder in warm juice 5. Slowly stir into quark/ricotta mixture 6. Beat fresh cream till soft peaks form and spoon into quark/ricotta mixture 7. Put springform pan with cakebase on plate (in case of leaking) pour on mixture 8. Do not cover, put in fridge overnight or for at least 2 hours until quark mixture has set. 9. Take out carefully once set and decorate with reserved mandarins from the tin.

5 The Arbour Newsletter You wont believe who it was... Thirty of The Arbour residents and staff recently gussied up in 1920 s costumes to partake in a murder mystery dinner, hosted at The Enclave. The night was run by Juliet Scrine (playing the starring role of Daphne Winningham) whose parents John & Margaret Howard live at The Arbour, and Juliet s business partner Ian McColm (who played the role of Doorknock Holmes) and a great night was had by all who attended. Over a delightful three course meal, they proved to be as insightful as Sherlock Holmes in discovering who killed tennis star, Daphne Winningham. During questioning, many clues and secrets were revealed whilst some were deliberately kept a secret. After dessert, everyone was encouraged to guess who the murderer was. What a clever bunch of people - a record breaking total of six people correctly guessed. You won t believe who it was... Visit for more information on Juliet and Ian s amazing work at the Eaton Gorge Theatre Company. Residents and staff dressed up in their 1920 s attire for the 1920 Tennis Presentation Dinner

6 The Arbour celebrates it s UDIA Award win with Residents Are you aching yet? Our last Newsletter featured a story on Acreage without the Ache. Our extremely hard working grounds keeping team of Colin, Mark & Bob are now flat out maintaining our extensive 20 acres of grounds, gardens and parklands to ensure they are looking beautiful over the Christmas period. Residents recently gathered in The Enclave to celebrate the victory of The Arbour being crowned the UDIA Most Outstanding Project in Regional NSW/ACT for Our Residents simply get to enjoy the open spaces and not give the maintenance a moment s thought if they want to go away. It was a great opportunity for Adam, James and John (the developers and proud owners of The Arbour) to thank the residents for making The Arbour such a great place to live and an award winning community through their constant support and positive reinforcement of why they love calling The Arbour home. You re invited - to a BBQ Lunch at The Enclave Be sure to mark Sunday 26th of February in your diary for our next BBQ lunch at The Enclave. Our recent BBQ in September was attended by over 70 people and was a superb day for interested people to come along for an inspection, bring along family and friends and meet The Arbour Management team. The BBQ also offered a great opportunity to meet our friendly residents and hear from them firsthand what they think about living at The Arbour. Please RVSP to Michael by phone on or by rsvp@thearbourberry.com.au