Leta Keens is a Sydney-based writer & editor, but she travelled all around Australia to find rural homes for 'Rural Australian Homes'. As much as anything it's a study of people and place - of the relationship between people and their homes, and their country. Beautiful photography by Simon Griffiths gives an insight into real rural life - something many of us aren't exposed  to very often. We asked Leta about her rural experiences - read our interview below, and leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of the book. You must be a member of Temple Webster and leave a comment here on the blog before 5pm (AEST) on Friday 26th October.

As a city dweller, what prompted you to write about rural homes?
I have to say straight up it wasn't my idea. I was Myles Baldwin's editor on his fantastic book, Rural Australian Gardens, and at the launch for that, the publisher asked if I'd be interested in writing the companion volume, on rural houses. Of course I said yes immediately, especially when I discovered that as part of my contract I had to find houses in every state - being forced to travel all over the country was an offer I couldn't refuse.

How did you find all the homes?
I'd known of a few of the houses before, and a couple I found through contacting commercial galleries, because I thought they'd have a good visual sense (which turned out to be the case - there are some great places belonging to artists in the book). I also found them through a chain email I sent out to pretty well everyone I know saying I was looking for all sorts of houses - old, new, architect designed, handmade, modest, not so modest, crumbling, traditional homesteads, converted railway stations etc etc - the main criterion was that I had to like them. I asked people to contact me if they knew of anything and to send the email on to anyone they knew who might be interested. I had a fantastic response - my inbox was constantly filled with friendly messages from complete strangers.



Did you find any common features among the homes?
What I was really looking for were houses that seemed 'real' and also ones where you'd look at the photos and wish you were there - that's what they all have in common, I think. I tried to find as wide a range of houses as possible, and wanted a few surprises in there, that didn't necessarily look as if they were in Australia. (The image above is from a home in Hahndorf, South Australia.)

Which of the homes resonated with you the most?
I honestly couldn't pick a favourite, but one of the best experiences I had was at Beaconsfield at Ilfracombe in central Queensland. The house has been in Jo Thomas's family for 100 years (the celebration was a week or two after we were there) and she had known as a little girl that that was where she wanted to live for the rest of her life. I found that incredibly moving - most of us don't have the chance to stay in the family home, even if we wanted to. She was perfectly content with her life, and it was lovely to be around someone like that. It was the most fabulous house - no wonder she wanted to live there forever. I was surprised how much I loved the country up there - its emptiness was mesmerising and very calming.



The journeys to visit all the homes must have been a story in themselves - any stand-out 'rural' experiences on your travels?
One of the best rural drives was the one back to Perth from Bridgetown. It was an easy drive (no dirt roads with great big boulders), and it was cherry season, so we bought the best cherries I've ever tasted in my life from a farm gate, plus it was just before Christmas, so every little town seemed to be having a craft fair. I managed to do a fair bit of my Christmas shopping that way - a lot of the craft was much more stylish and interesting than you'd imagine.

UPDATE: Thank you for the wonderful responses - we have really enjoyed reading your comments. We asked Leta to choose a winner, and she chose Mel Gumpert. Congratulations Mel! I'll email you separately to arrange for delivery of your lovely new book. - Victoria