Bill and Sarah Welcome All To Geraldton

BILL and Sarah Howey will be opening “Geraldton” to the whole community on Sunday, October 13, to raise money for the local Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society.

The Howey’s will be opening Geraldton to the whole community on Saturday, October 13, to raise money for ADFAS.

Geraldton is one of the earliest homes built in Scone, dating back to 1857 when Matthew Miller purchased the land and built the first four bedroom cottage. 

The property has an incredible history, with only seven owners, many of whom left a profound impact on Scone’s development.

Bill Howey, well known local history enthusiast, who has published a book on Geraldton, is looking forward to sharing the stories of the home and the interesting residents.

Sarah Howey, has been busy preparing the beautiful garden, which has weathered the drought well, for guests to enjoy and will even be preparing lunch for people to enjoy in the courtyard.

Linda Posa, from Plants on Main will walk guests through the garden and give tips on plants which are suited for local conditions.

Sarah and Bill Howey are looking forward to sharing Geraldton with the community.

“We want to share Geraldton, because we love it and we feel it is part of the history of Scone,” said Sarah.

“The garden is looking pretty good at the moment, but that’s mostly because the trees are coming out for spring and it’s a very hardy drought resistant garden, I’ve put some water on the lawn, but the trees are tough and hardy and the plantings have survived the last few years,” she said.

“It’s a lovely welcoming space when you walk through the front gate and it’s 10 degrees cooler in the middle of summer, it’s just lovely to come home to,” she said.

“Janet Barton (former owner) came to visit and said she remembers planting the plain tree in 1957 and she also said ‘the nicest thing about this house is no matter which room you are in you feel that you are in the garden’ and I absolutely feel like that,” she said.

“It’s a lovely space we love our birds, we love our trees, but we don’t love the possums eating all of the fresh buds,” laughed Sarah.

Maintaining a heritage home is no mean feat, but Bill and Sarah

“You need stoicism and devotion apart from anything else,” laughed Bill.

“It always need attention and care; we call ourselves current custodians and guardians for posterity, but it does need constant upgrading and constant work and I have to put in a plug for local tradesmen, I tell you what we are so lucky and the work done you can’t speak more highly of it,” he said.

Bill is looking forward to sharing the history of the home and his book “Geraldton, Scone – A History” can now be found online on Bill’s website Scone A Vet Dynasty which has a wealth of information on local history. 

Details: Geraldton Open Day.