Designer chicken coops for the fussiest of fowls: He Said/She Said

Escaping to a rural retreat is the dream of many city slickers yearning for a blissfully buccolic existence on a lifestyle weekend property with a pony paddock, veggie garden and chook house.

This week our property contrarians Jonathan Chancellor and Margie Blok discuss two luxury properties coincidently both near Mount Macedon (64 kilometres north-west of Melbourne) where the piece de résistance is a designer chicken coop suited to the fussiest of fowls. 

1. Cluckingham Palace is a grandly named state-of-the-art chook house at Hammet, the Macedon luxury weekender of Transfield Services CEO Graeme Hunt and his wife Karen, which is listed for April 5 auction through Jellis Craig agents, Tom May and Paul Keane, in conjunction with Nicolette van Wijngaarden of Unique Estates.
   
   
   
   The Hunts purchased the four-acre property in 2008, and since it has been extensively developed, with Karen co-ordinating the landscaping designed by garden guru, Paul Bangay, and other design concepts conceived by the late interior designer, Stuart Rattle.
   
   While the equine pursuits of Karen and her daughter, Madison, were a motivating factor for the Hunts’ purchase of Hammet, they also wanted somewhere for the children to experience open space, farm fresh produce and self-sufficient living – a place with free-range egg producing hens and gardens abundant with vegetables and fruit.
   
   
   
   These aims led to the development of Hammet’s vegie gardens, orchard, 125 tree olive grove and Cluckingham Palace, the Stuart Rattle designed luxury hen house with its traditional four-sided cupola and cock-a-doodle-doo weathervane on the roof.
   
   Set privately behind bespoke entry gates and approached by a tree-lined driveway, Hammet’s beautifully appointed four-bedroom residence has uninterrupted views of Mount Macedon and the surrounding countryside. In the grounds are magnificent formal garden rooms, rolling lawns, a floodlit tennis court, children’s playground and lake.
   
   
   
   Macedon’s four seasons appeal to the Hunts whose home has glorious winter views of oft-Not quite snow-capped Mount Macedon. Originally the family owned one pony, but given their stable size increased, they’re now looking for a larger property to accommodate the horses. With their love of the local community and Macedon’s easy access to the city (45 minutes drive), they intend staying in the region, which for Graeme provides a quiet and relaxing retreat from his high stress, fast paced, executive life.
   
   

2. Not quite as grand, but a cupola and weathervane also adorn the roof of the chook house at Glenbroch, a magnificent 16-hectare lifestyle property at Woodend in the foothills of Mount Macedon. This property also is for sale through Jellis Craig agents, Tom May and Paul Keane.
   
   At the end of an oak lined driveway, the two-storey sandstone gabled residence stands in magnificent gardens with numerous garden rooms, an ornamental parterre, extensive hedges, topiaries, lawns, English trees, maple groves, a crabapple walk, orchard and a kitchen garden. Also in the grounds are an entertaining deck, swimming pond and a leafy 'secret garden' leading to a playground and cottage cubby.
   
   
   
   Located at 73 Reid Road, and with direct access to Mount Macedon Regional Park, the property has superior equestrian facilities including a stables, tack and feed rooms, a hot internal horse wash and a manège (a rectangular arena for horse training and dressage).
   
   Other features include secure post and rail paddocks with electric fencing, quality stockyards, a cattle crush, four dams, seven water tanks and drinking quality bore water for the garden and livestock. From a distance it is as if it was an original stone homestead from the early days of settlement, but the two-storey house was built a little more than 20 years ago by its original owners, the Reids, for whom the road is named. Liz and Milton Collins bought the property five years ago - country people with Milton Collins from country Victoria and Liz Collins from Tasmania, and for many years had run Woodend's grand old Campaspe House. They lived in the former barn before they built their dream home - and its now has been turned into a tack room, washroom and feed room for the horses. The garden has been re-created as a sculptured formal garden, in the style of Sissinghurst Castle in England.

HE SAID:

I’m all for chooks being housed in the lap of luxury, but I draw the line at them perching on chandeliers.

I have a soft spot for chooks and where they live having gleefully collected the hen's eggs in my childhood holidays at Merrijig.

Hens are social, intelligent, funny and inquisitive animals, and I say “Bravo” to the Animals Australia recent video campaign commercial featuring five famous comedians (Peter Rowsthorn, Mick Molloy, Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann, Arj Barker and Carl Barron) who profess their love for the “ladies” and bring to attention the ugly conditions of battery caged chooks, by declaring, “That ain’t no way to treat a lady”.

SHE SAID:

I adore palatial poultry palaces that keep hens safe and warm come rain or shine, especially at Mount Macedon which often has all four seasons in a day.

As well as keeping “the girls” comfortable and happy, a designer hen house adds a striking feature to the garden.

My favourite is a white-washed coop featured on the Fancy Farm Girl blog. As well as requisite feed bins, this astonishingly neat and tidy chookery has a crystal chandelier and comfortable armchair – just the spot to perch and chat with your feathered friends.

Any decent Australian version of course must have a Leslie Wilkinson/Hardy Wilson style cupola atop any coop.

I maintain that especially during the Australian winter, chickens often need extra light to lay eggs, so putting in a chandelier into the coop is not only pretty, but functional.