Art of LIVING

A visit to the former home and garden of Sir Hans Heysen and his talented daughter, Nora, opens a window to their artworks and lives

- ELIZABETH WILSON

Cottage Bunch

In the hallway at The Cedars, in the Adelaide Hills, hangs a beautiful flower-study painted by Hans Heysen (titled Cottage Bunch) and black-and-white sketches of gum trees in charcoal and chalk. The next room contains early European works, from Heysen's time as a young art student in Paris, Venice and Florence.

The sight of a grand old eucalyptus haloed by morning light on a nearby hill is a fitting greeting at the entrance to The Cedars, home of the late landscape artist Sir Hans Heysen. 'Hans would often head out at first light to sketch in the bush, but hours later he'd still be at the front gate. He loved the form and structure of those trees near the entrance,' says Allan Campbell, the curator of the Heysen Collections and manager of The Cedars.

Located in the Adelaide Hills, Australia, The Cedars is open to the public year-round, with daily tours of the Heysens' home, gardens and studios. Hans and his wife Sallie bought the 36-acre property in 1912, remodelling the 1870s house in the Arts and Crafts style. The couple raised eight children here and Hans - who'd achieved fame in his own lifetime - supported the family with his art, working in a purposebuilt stone studio. Far from feeling like a museum, The Cedars radiates the warmth and autobiographical detail of a family home. All Hans's and Sallie's artworks, furniture, Persian rugs, curios and books remain in situ.