“Millars is a place where we can just ‘be’,
where many a memory has been made beside the fire or at the lake’s edge.
From the moment we arrive we feel the greatest sense of calm,
and we love that you can experience it too.”
- Andrew and Jade, Millars by the lake
Us.
In 2020 we (Andrew and Jade, hi!) were trying to keep up with the frantic pace of COVID-19 in our jobs, while yearning for a place to pause, rest and reset. And so, we searched until we came across a little cottage with sturdy bones that felt like home.
For over six months (with our young kids in tow) we poured our hearts into Millars to give it a heart of its own. Having experienced beautiful accommodation during her Scoop Traveller Magazine editorship, and coupled with her love of interior styling, Jade painstakingly hand-picked every piece in the cottage, scouring WA for bespoke vintage pieces and art. While recruitment manager Andrew, hit the tools (with a village of support from our family and friends) to shape and restore Millars into a cottage that we are immensely proud of.
Millars is about connection. About sitting together around the fire pit toasting marshmallows, or connecting with yourself again and making time for ‘you’ by finally reading that book (you know the one). For us it is morning walks through the forest, taking a bottle of wine down to the lake for the sunset, and cosy nights by the fire reconnecting and restarting those conversations that we never get to finish.
Millars by the lake
In 1944 when WA’s timber trade was booming, Millars Timber and Trading Co purchased the forest hamlet of Quinninup to construct a township fit for a thriving mill. By 1946 the mill settlement with workers’ cottages was built, including our cottage ‘Millars by the lake’.
Today the mill is no longer but during its 75 year history Millars has lived a character-filled life with owners including the school’s headmaster, an artist, the pub owner, and finally us.
With its quirks and heritage charm the cottage isn’t perfect nor would we want it to be, but it’s the perfect setting for honest conversations, somewhere to be vulnerable, a place where you can be unreservedly you.
Image via quinninup.net.au