#431 Premium
Glenbrook, Blue Mountains, near Sydney
House • Glenbrook NSW Australia
Exchange types accepted
Statistics
Listed June 2018
Views 3391
General overview
We love spending time in nature with our family, and our home reflects that. It is comfortable, spacious and relaxed, surrounded by trees and the sound of birds. Although only 5 minutes from the village it is set in the middle of a leafy half-acre block with mountain views, so it feels very secluded. It is well set up for children and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. It will accommodate up to 11 people in 5 bedrooms, plus 2 more on a sofa bed in the downstairs living area, so it is ideal for two family groups together (though please, out of respect for our good neighbours, no loud parties!). It's our much-loved family home so we are mainly looking for swaps in school holidays, though we're open to weekends as well! We're slowly but surely renovating, so you'll have to forgive the slightly daggy carpets!!
The space
On the main level there are 4 light-filled bedrooms (one king with ensuite and own deck/balcony with mountain view), one double, one king, one with single-over-double bunks) and a family bathroom. There is a large, new kitchen with walk-in pantry and open plan dining area with beautiful views. The living room is air conditioned in summer and has a combustion stove for chilly winter nights, and leads on to a large covered deck/balcony with outdoor dining setting and a beautiful view through the trees to the mountains.
Downstairs there is another large, airconditioned living area (with sofa bed and piano!), a double bedroom with doors to the garden, second shower room/toilet, kitchenette, and the laundry. This area is self-contained, so could accommodate smaller parties of travellers (ideally 2, but up to 4 using sofa bed) for hosting/non-simultanous exchange if you want to stay at a time that we need to be home.
The garden (which, thanks to the slope, can be accessed from both levels of the house!) is very large and shady, making it perfect for the playing or lazing around reading a book in the hammock in summer. Trampoline and play equipment is all there to be enjoyed and if you're happy to take care of the chickens you're welcome to the eggs (but if you'd rather not we can easily arrange someone to do this for you).
Although the house is large, there are only four of us, so we are open to swaps to smaller house/apartments - even caravans on the beach! We are very happy to share our home in exchange for a week by the beach or in the city - or in somewhere we haven't even thought of yet!
Guest access
The driveway to the house is steep, but once you're inside, all the main living accommodation - main bedrooms, kitchen, family bathroom - is on one floor. There is a second floor downstairs with an additional bedroom/bathroom if needed.
Features
Washer
Iron
Hair dryer
Heating
Air conditioning
TV
WiFi
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguisher
Bed sheets
Towels
Fireplace
House rules
Suitable for infants under 2
Suitable for children ages 2-12
Pets welcome
No smoking
Dates of Availability
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Neighbourhood
Glenbrook is a gem of a village in the lower Blue Mountains. Most people motor past it on the way up to Leura and Katoomba - but it is a beautiful destination in its own right.
People come to the mountains for a dose of nature, and Glenbrook is no exception, with tonnes of nature and bushwalks at the doorstep - the entrance to the national park is about 15 minutes on foot or a two minute drive from the house. In this section of the national park you will find natural swimming holes (Jellybean Pool and Blue Pool are the most popular and for good reason - both are gorgeous and beautifully refreshing on a hot day) and an amazing display of aboriginal rock art at Red Hands Cave. Euroka campground is a great place to spend a day, spotting the resident kangaroos or cooking sausages from Glenbrook butcher on a campfire before heading back to your comfortable beds in the house! If it's views you're after, there is a beautiful lookout about a 10 minutes easy (stroller accessible) walk away from the house- a perfect place for a picnic and a cuppa, especially at sunset.
When you've had your fill of nature, Glenbrook Village itself is wonderful (we drove through it once on a camping trip from Sydney and had moved here less than 6 months later!). As well as the large, well-equipped playground, there are a number of great coffee shops and eateries (2773, with its cubby house and farmyard animals, is a winner with the kids; Vincent does amazing dinner tapas, and Kickaboom does the best coffee in town). If you don't want to eat out, both the butcher and bakery are fantastic, and Con's Continental Deli has a great range of cheese and meat for making up your own picnic hampers as well as ready-made meals. On top of this, there is a great second hand book shop, some lovely clothes and gift shops, and even a small nursery/garden centre. After you've finished shopping, you could head to the public pool, the bowls club or catch a movie at the beautifully old-fashioned one-screen cinema at the edge of the park. If you time your visit right you can head to Glenbrook Markets (1st and 3rd Saturdays) or have a miniature train ride at Wascoe Siding (1st Sunday).
Venturing further afield, you can head up the mountains by train or car to the many beautiful lookouts and walks on offer - Wentworth Falls, Leura, Katoomba and Blackheath are the obvious favourites, but there is a large information folder in the house pointing you to some of our favourites, and excellent advice at the tourist information centre by the park.
Getting around
We are a 5 minute walk from Glenbrook village, and 8 minutes walk from the train station. Alternatively a bus stop to Penrith or Springwood is a 2 minute walk.
The train takes 40 minutes up to Katoomba, and an hour to Central (Sydney). So if you need to you can even commute to the office in the cirty (as Aubs does) while the rest of the family explores the mountains and enjoys the school holidays.
Map of Approximate Location
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Feedback
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Desired Destinations
Open to any destination
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