Homes of the Hunter | Sweet home in Weston renovated, reconfigured and reborn | Photos

But she loves to talk about her three years in Weston, and all the work she has done to create a now breezy, colorful three-bedroom, two-bathroom abode.

Before she bought the house, Wendie would often notice it as it's on the main road from Kurri to Cessnock.

One day she drove past and saw a For Sale sign out the front. The real estate agent was there, so Wendie asked if she could have a look.

"It's got a beautiful outlook, next to a park that looks down on the cricket pitch," she says.

"The house really needed some tender love and care. It had been in one family for many years.

"They had just leased it out."

She loved the location. The fact that it backed onto the park was great for walking her dogs.

She began imagining ideas for the garden, which at the time was just dust and concrete.

Wendie thinks the home was built in the 70s or 80s.

"When I saw the inside of the house I thought 'oh this is really good, but it appears to be very back-to-front'," she says.

"It had the kitchen at the back and the bedroom at the front."

"I thought the best thing to do was to remove the master bedroom from the front of the house, where the view and traffic noise was, and put it in the back of the house where there's less noise."

She started renovations as soon as she moved in. The yard was just dirt, and she wanted to open up the dining room to create an al fresco vibe.

She put in a retaining wall for the soil and plants. She established the garden and back veranda first.

The front garden was filled with flowers to attract butterflies and bees.

She moved the kitchen so that it had a more desirable northern aspect.

A sun room was created for entertaining, and a big master bedroom with an ensuite is now where the kitchen was.

You couldn't park out the front and, because of the road, no one could use the front door. To fix this, Wendie put in a new door, the "front back side door".

She lived in the house during the renovations.

"My father used to always renovate homes; this is what always happens in my family," Wendie says.

"Having renovations around is totally normal.

"If you stayed somewhere long my father would build a cupboard," she laughs.

It's hard for her to pick a favourite room, but she gravitates towards the snug, (the lounge).

"Because I knit throws, and you know it's just the most comfortable room. I like the snug," she says.

"My dining room is great because it's got a lot of artwork, and then the outlook into the garden. It's really hard to say."

She's worked as a florist and in childcare; that's where she gets her green thumb and crafty touches.

Some of the beachy paintings are her own.

"I'm a craft person and dabble in a little bit of art," she says.

"I'm a little bit of a collector of things, so if I see something I like to create space to put it in."

Many of the pieces in her house reflect her travels, which she's missed since COVID hit.

"I have a silk scarf I collected in Darwin over 50 years ago, and that scarf has just been sitting around," she says.

"I finally framed it, so that was really nice."

She lives alone, but has welcomed plenty of friends, family, and dogs into the house over the years.

"Our Christmas is more dogs than people, we have seven dogs on Christmas day," she jokes.

She's excited about the next chapter of her life, and her hard work and creative touches have left the house and garden in perfect shape for its next inhabitants.

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