Kensington Palace

Yeah, it’s an overstatement, but our new home is fabulous! I’ve never lived in a place so lovely. Of course, I am easily impressed…

Let’s start with the location. Kensington is an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, located just west of North Melbourne. It’s a small village, but it has everything one could need: plenty of cafes, a flower shop, an ATM, a couple small grocery stores, a clean skin wine shop, a post office, 2 train stations, a pharmacy, a fruit and vegetable shop, a pub, an upscale bar, beauty salons, and a few take-away food places. If you still can’t find what you need, the city is just 2 stops on the train. Who could ask for anything more?

Our street, besides being hard to spell and pronounce (Albermarle), is also hard to get to. But this means there is very little traffic noise, and I appreciate that when I’m trying to practice my violin or do a recording. We’re in the middle of a maze of one-way and dead-end streets, and you would need a keen sense of direction to find us. That leaves me out, I know – I have gotten lost a few times already.

Now to the house itself! It is what they call a single-fronted 2-bedroom cottage. Single-fronted seems to mean that there is only one room at the front of the house. There is a small fence and gate that separates our property from the footpath, and a tiny garden with some beautiful plants. One of which is a big lily plant and the other I will need help in identifying. We have a small front porch that I would like to put some chairs on or decorate somehow.

As you enter, there is a very long hallway straight ahead that goes past the 2 bedrooms and into the lounge room. There is a beautiful archway in the middle of the hall, and recessed lighting adds an elegant touch. The hardwood floors have a rustic look to them. They are a honey colour with yellow hues in-between the floorboards.

The 1st bedroom has become our office/music room. It reminds me of Mardi Gras with royal purple silk curtains and a green and yellow chequered light fixture. It has a gorgeous dark fireplace that hasn’t been used in a while. The 2nd bedroom is our bedroom and it also has a nice old fireplace that we haven’t utilized (but it makes a great place for my pig collection). Each bedroom also has a small electric wall heater that is much easier to ignite.

Our lounge room is big and bright and has the most stunning crown moulding and ornamental details on the ceiling above the light fixture. I could look up at it and get lost in the swirls and leafy patterns. It looks a bit like a big wedding cake on the ceiling. We have barely begun to fill the room, with only a couch, a coffee table, and a rug from IKEA and an old TV on top of a big packing box. It’s a work in progress.

As we make our way to the end of the house, we have the kitchen. Here the floor changes to a charcoal and brick red tile. The roomy kitchen is galley style with counter tops on either side. And now I’m actually using my cookbooks to make meals instead of just making my mouth water. There is a sliding door that leads to a modest paved courtyard. The rim of the courtyard is lined with different plants, including 4 rosemary bushes. So Jackie has a small area to relieve herself when necessary.

We have a separate “toilet room” and a large bathroom with a laundry closet. There is not enough room for a dryer, so we do the laundry on sunny days like today. I reckon the best part of the bathroom is the heat lamp. But as it is now spring, I will not be so in love with all of the heating gadgets in a month or so.

That about wraps up the tour of our new home. I hope that some of you will have the opportunity to see it (and us) someday. Until then, stay in touch – leave comments, send emails, or even give us a call on our new American phone number. Let me know if you need it. Shiver me timbers!! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!