From daunted to delighted
Leaving the land and loving life
Living in a home on undulating acreage that runs down to the river and provides beautiful, uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape in Lowood, Queensland, is something many property owners would find hard to leave behind.
Three years ago, after 40 years of living on the land, Trevor and Jan Henley found themselves in a situation where the upkeep and maintenance of owning a big 8-hectare property was becoming demanding. It was then the thought of downsizing first crept into their minds.
“It is a huge decision to make after spending most of your life on a big property but, all of a sudden, we just found the consistent need for maintenance was getting harder. We also pumped our water from the river and had to walk up and down the hill frequently to access it.
It really began to take its toll,” said Trevor. He said it was during a visit to their daughters in Toowoomba in 2019 that they heard about Gemlife’s new Highfields estate for over 50s and began to think seriously about downsizing.
“We took a closer look and put down a deposit on Stage Three and everything moved fairly quickly from there.”
The process of downsizing seemed daunting at first, but the couple said the sale of their property despite a COVID-affected market went extremely well and so too did the need to reduce 40 years of accumulated possessions down to a level that would suit their new home.
“We had a big garage sale and sold nearly everything,” said Trevor.
Six months after moving into their new home, the couple could not be happier with their decision to downsize.
“This is a definite lifestyle change for us but there isn’t as much housework and we have time to spend with our grandchildren and take part in lots of activities here such as swimming and tenpin bowling, and we are loving it,” said Jan.
In their backyard is a reminder of life back on the property in the form of a large fibreglass gold python which has become a resort talking point.
“A few people have jumped in fright when they first saw it and magpies and pee wees have been fooled into thinking it is alive, but it has all been in good fun,” chuckled Trevor.