Historic SA home in a Clare Valley town a rare offering

Many South Australian homeowners add a modern extension at the back when renovating their historic character homes.

But Peter and Jen Russell decided to do the complete opposite when expanding their 150-year-old Undalya house, which has hit the market.

The couple, who bought the 5.97ha property at 249 Kelly Road 32 years ago, embraced its rustic cottage charm to make the extension appear as if it had always been part of the house.

“We didn’t want to touch the original building,” Ms Russell said.

“We really love the heritage character of it and we wanted to retain that so it was a seamless transition from old to new.”

The original house, which is where the lounge room is, was built in circa 1860 and the four bedrooms added about a decade later in the 1870s.

The Russells bought the property from friends in the late 1980s then added the open kitchen, living and dining area in 1997.

Mr Russell, who has been a stonemason for more than 40 years, built it using Clare bluestone and Watervale limestone.

To ensure it matched the rest of the house, they reused many materials, including stone, windows collected from heritage buildings and repurposed doors.

“The 1870 part has got the beautiful original Australian red cedar mantels and cupboards,” Ms Russell said.

“The kind of timber they used in it too, you just can’t get it anymore.”

While they were reluctant to sell the property that had been a labour of love and beloved family home, Ms Russell said it was time to downsize.

“It’s been a meeting place for our family – we always have Christmas here and we’ve had every kind of birthday you can imagine, culminating in our youngest daughter’s wedding,’ she said.

“We feel proud of what we’ve achieved here.”

REAL Estate Agents Group’s Andy White is selling the property, which has a $1.05 million to $1.1 million price guide.