Miss Adeline’s
AN EVOCATIVE NEW STORY, BRIMMING WITH HOPE AND RENEWAL, HAS BEEN WOVEN FOR THIS RECENTLY REVITALISED PERIOD COTTAGE ON THE BANKS OF THE TAMAR RIVER.
Words & Images_ Simone Gonzalez
After a long soak in the tub of this character infused, old-world bath house, it’s of little stretch of the imagination to feel awash in all the glamour and allure of a bygone era. Once an apple packing shed, this moody and romantic brick building at the rear of the main cottage now features an original claw foot bath which has been lovingly restored, and alongside other carefully considered character details, a 1940’s Art Deco style door with ‘Bath House’ emblazoned on its opaque glass. The room is indicative of the heart and soul that has been poured into the renovation and styling of the entire cottage called ‘Miss Adeline’s’ - a true labour of love for its owners, Kim and Thomas van Oosterom. With imaginative and playful touches at every turn, this ‘old girl,’ as she is affectionately called, exudes personality and a whole lot of charm.
“Some of my fondest memories as a child was watching my mother Adeline and her two sisters get ready in all their finery and head out to the local town hall for a Supper Dance,” Kim recalls. “Times were hard then, but simple pleasures like wearing a pretty dress and dancing the night away helped the tough times disappear. So as I came across things during the renovation - like a lovely old photo at a vintage bazaar in Melbourne, I knew it would be perfect for how I wanted our cottage to feel for guests - something magical to take their troubles away.”
Built around 1945 by a Mr Cramp, Miss Adeline’s is one of the original Post-war holiday houses at Gravelly Beach, where visitors would often be seeking solace in the aftermath of the war. The stately palm tree, holding pride of place in the front yard, serves as a vestige of the iconic village’s heydey, marking the site where a popular beach once bustled with day trippers from the city who would travel here via boat, 30 minutes north-west of Launceston.
With the original intention of naming the property Palm Tree Cottage, Kim’s idea was quickly turned on it head after she attended Sarah Andrew’s first Hosting Masterclass in Hobart. “I knew that the cottage was special, and it was only after I had moved out, that I could see this more clearly,” Kim explains. “I love history and anything antique or vintage, so I thought it would be a chance for me to indulge my passions and create a romantic and whimsical space for guests that are looking for something unique - not your ‘run of the mill’ accommodation.”
The design of Miss Adeline’s essentially speaks to the beauty, simplicity and endurance of a bygone era. As an Interior Stylist and self professed Finder of Beautiful Things, Kim’s process has taken cues from the 1940’s Art Deco style, as well as a book titled ‘Faded Glamour’ by a stylist called Pearl Lowe. Within this enamoured vision, the cottage’s feminine interiors began to take shape - featuring detailed textiles, dried botanicals, diverse vintage finds and soft pastel hues. Most of the furniture pieces and decor have been locally sourced from individuals or auction houses - often repaired, upcycled and returned to a former glory.
Typically styling a whole room around a single piece, the creative process for Kim has at times been all consuming. “I tend to create spaces in vignettes and it can take weeks sometimes to get a room exactly how I want it to be,” Kim explains. “I cannot move onto another space until I get the vision out of my head. I didn’t get a lot of sleep while designing Miss A!” The handpicked elements within remain faithful to the period cottage’s sense of place - from an original 1940’s David Jones evening gown hanging in the front bedroom to an old Sydney Hilton dining room chair set found on Gumtree (with cushions recovered in Belgian linen). The necklaces on the dresser are vintage 1950’s and 60’s and part of Kim’s wider collection.
While husband Thomas originally hails from Melbourne, Kim is a country girl from Warrnambool, Victoria. The couple met online one day, met two weeks later in person and have been together ever since. Having both come from previous marriages, they shared some time in Central Victoria before eventually looking to the horizon to seek a fresh start together across the Bass Straight. “Thomas woke one morning and told me he had a dream that told him to move to Launceston” Kim recalls. “So he booked us a holiday for my upcoming birthday and the rest is history!”
It was 18 years ago when the couple made the leap of faith to the island state, where over time they established two successful Airbnbs and became seasoned hosts - certainly no strangers to a challenge. One of which was a $25 000 house, which had been purchased from a property near Evandale and relocated on the back of a truck to Bell Buoy Beach, renovated and an Airbnb called Sea Song was born.
Kim, who had eventually retired from her 30 year role in community service, and Thomas, who was seeking a change from his job as a state manager in a modular building company, decided to test the waters in 2017 on a local real estate market showing strong potential. They then placed their other beloved property up for sale - a 1910 Launceston period house which had taken 9 years to renovate, and its Airbnb flat downstairs called The Secret Garden. It was a mere four days later when they had a contract above asking price and were now looking at a 6 week settlement with no fixed address in sight.
“To say we were in a panic was an understatement!” Kim recalls. “I had seen a cottage in Gravelly Beach for sale so rang up to arrange a viewing, only to be told it had been sold. We kept looking but nothing suitable seemed to come up. Four weeks before the settlement on our house, I was once again looking online at real estate and saw that the same house at Gravelly Beach was back on the market. We had a viewing at 4pm that same afternoon and signed a contract an hour later.”
After two previous offers on the house had fallen through, it seemed that the invisible hand of fate was now ushering Kim and Thomas into a new chapter of their life at their humble riverside cottage. With the luxury of a generous sized block of land, they decided to develop the property and began to build a modern French style farmhouse for themselves at the rear. A year into the build, they began to renovate the front cottage as a seperate space for guests, with the two projects running concurrently.
After what Kim describes as a tough two years, the dedicated couple found themselves at the finish line of their creation of Miss Adeline’s, with the added challenge of opening during a pandemic. “Finally after lots of blood, sweat and occasional tears, Miss Adeline’s was finally open as our new Airbnb,” Kim explains. “She is named after my mother, Adeline May, who died at 58, after raising 6 children. I wanted to somehow mark her life and naming the cottage after her just seemed right.”
Adeline May had originally given birth to 8 children - the first at the age of 16 and Kim, her last at 35, however two children were tragically lost as babies. In primary school, Kim’s father suffered an industrial accident and her mother became the sole bread winner of the house. And while the family could never afford such luxuries as holidays, she was still able to enjoy the transportive experience of escape through the history books which were gifted to her by her father. Kim has fond memories as a little girl of helping her mother as a House Maid at a local hotel and of her nan as a Cook and House Keeper.
Losing both her parents in her early 20’s, Kim says their family history was rarely spoken about, yet these missing threads in her story have always been a constant source of intrigue for her. Not unlike her journey as a stylist and collector of vintage finds, Kim has dedicated much of her adult life to the search for lost and disparate pieces from the past, as a way of forging new connections and dialogues between them. Her continued love of history sparked a keen interest in years to come to trace her own family heritage, both with extensive research through Ancestory.com and a little serendipity.
As Miss Adeline’s story further unfolds, it’s revealed that Kim’s elegant vision and meticulous restoration serves as a poignant tribute to not only her mother but also to a long lineage of her grandmothers, whose lives were plagued with great loss and hardship, yet despite this, showed incredible fortitude and resilience. “As part of my research, I’ve discovered that one of my GG Grandmothers came to Australia at the age of 17 on her own,” Kim says. “She married an older man and was one of the pioneer settlers of a small town in Victoria. The first 6 years of their marriage they lived in a tent by a river with 4 children. Her obituary was in the Argus newspaper and talked about her support for the sick in the community and how she would go out at anytime of the night or weather on horseback to administer to the sick.”
While Miss Adeline’s is a tangible ode to the sacrifices of those who have gone before, it is also a curation of a new story - one of hope and renewal. Where discovered treasures, ancestry knowledge, family keepsakes and memories can be be upheld in the light of beauty and celebratory revival. Where gaps in history have the opportunity to be rebridged and where the past needn’t fade into obscurity. And so it has come to be, that this charming cottage is a place to count one’s blessings, wash one’s troubles away and be lovingly enfolded in a whole lot of heart and restorative soul - where guests, too can be a part of Miss Adeline’s ongoing story.
‘Her eyes they shone like a diamond. You’d think she was queen of the land and her hair hung over her shoulder tied up with a black velvet band.’ These are the words from a song my mother would sit at the table and sing when we had a party. It is one of my fondest memories of her. Her name was Adeline.”
For bookings please visit;
www.missadelinestamarvalley.com
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