ANNANDAYLE HISTORIC HOMESTEAD
Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 4 April 1962, page 21
HISTORIC HOMESTEAD
A giant pear tree, more than 100 years old, shades the courtyard at "Annandayle." In the foreground is a water-lily pond; at back, left, are golden and silver pheasants in a high-roofed aviary built round an old figtree. The seat was once the front gate.
Pictures by staff photographer Jonathan Evetts.
"Annandayle," century-old homestead belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Bowler, near Holbrook, was built by Samuel Bowler of granite blocks quarried on the property he bought in 1836.
FOR more than 100 years there has been a Bowler
at "Annandayle," a welcoming old homestead in the Holbrook district of N.S.W.
The present owner, Mr. Cyril Bowler, lives there with his wife and daughter, Elizabeth-Ann, 13. The house was built by his great-grandfather, Cornishman Samuel Bowler, one of the first settlers in the district. When he bought the land from George Bardwell in 1836, it was known as the Ten-Mile Creek No. 2 Block of 50,000 acres. Today only 11,000 acres belong to "Annandayle," but five other members of the family have holdings on the rest of the acreage.
Seven rooms of the granite house are as good as the day they were built & form living-rooms & bedrooms. The present Bowler occupants have added extensions. A wide, creeper-framed verandah goes along most of the front.
View of the lovely garden at "Annandayle," looking toward the swimming-pool. Surrounded by shrubs & lawn, the pool is a favorite spot for local young people in summer.
Handsome cedar sideboard dominates the dining - room. The sideboard was made in the 1860s by an old Scottish craftsman, who used to wander round the district working as a cabinetmaker. Doors lead from the dining-room to the shaded courtyard.
Comfortable living-room has a landscape window over-looking the garden and the magnificent old pear tree, which still bears fruit. This is one of the seven rooms of the original homestead, to which Mr. Cyril Bowler has added extensions. Over the mantel is a leather-framed mirror brought to Australia by Samuel Bowler from Cornwall.