|
|
|
About Sue and Tim Johnson Colonial Cottages of Ross12 Church Street Phone:+61 (0)3 6381 5354 (best to ring all hours
number first) Hosts: Tim & Sue Johnson
|
|
|
About Sue and Tim Johnson Background history Sue and I bought our first home in Ross in 1982 and have been operating businesses in the historic village since 1983. We decided to use our first home as accommodation (Now known as Hudson Cottage) in 1987. We loved the cottage and didn't have the heart to sell it or just put tenants into it. By making it accommodation we can keep it and still "play house". It worked wonderfully. We continued this trend and restored Apple Dumpling cottage in 1988, then Church Mouse cottage, then Captain Samuels cottage. Our friends Arthur and Anne bought Apple Dumpling cottage from us and now use it as their home. We then decided to convert our home/reception into a B&B/reception. So the Ross B&B Accommodation was born. This extra dimension to our business has provided us with a greater variety to offer guests.
Our family Sue and I have two wonderful children. Markham and Claire. Both grown and left home (sort of). We are very proud of them and are both doing very well developing their own lives and life history. We also have a really cute Labrador who's name is Delilah, or Deli.
Our philosophy of accommodation We don't believe in just doing things the conventional way. We get an idea and explore the best way to do it, not "how do others do it". We believe that the product we offer is unique and fun for guests. Our primary goal is for comfort combined with the historic experience guests have. This element of historic experience is important as it compliments the village which is officially the most significant convict village in Australia. Unlike most accommodation places we don't just try to achieve star rating from AAA. If we believe the requirements to achieve extra points may compromise the enjoyment and comfort of guests. Almost daily we have guests tell us that our 3.5 star property is far superior in comfort and history than the 4 or 5 star property they stayed in previously. OK, I have had my little political statement. What else do we do besides accommodation? Many ask us if we do anything else other than run the cottages. Sue works .5 as a registered nurse. I have, since 1997, been a specialist in suicide prevention and men's health. I provide training to groups of professionals and community groups awareness workshops on these very important issues. At time of writing this work has an outside source of funding, however the accommodation business is the major non government sponsor. So some of your money you pay to stay with us contributes to this important work. Often I am away speaking to a group or researching an important aspect to men's health or suicide. This leads me to another clever idea we have introduced into our business. When guests arrive at our reception we may not answer the door bell. Instructions tell them how to use our intercom. This connects you to either me or Sue. We have a security system set-up to enable you to move in if we are away from the office. Its unique, the beauty of this system is that guests know we make ourselves available 24 hours if there is a problem. Often guests use this system and we may only be a few doors away, so it gives us a cleaver way of running the business without being trapped behind the reception door. Not that we have left the business running on its own, we have lovely, competent staff in the village to assist in the hands on work of the business. Restoring old things has been a lifetime leisure activity of mine, Sue has also become involved in this satisfying pastime. We also have a collection of old cars, a 1927 Chevrolet Tourer, 1934 Ford model Y Tudor, 1949 Anglia Tourer, 1949 Prefect Sedan and our latest toy, 1959 MGA roadster. Click here to see pics of the old cars We were married in 1982 The significance of that fact was we had a whole weekend 25th wedding anniversary celebration in November 2007. We had guests staying at all our B&B rooms and the cottages, and held a weekend-long party in the backyard of Captain Samuels cottage. The shed in the backyard was converted to party central for the weekend, and is now known as the "Lurve shed". Many people chose to camp on the back paddock behind the "Lurve shed". Over 50 attended Friday night, around 100 arrived during Saturday to join in on the day time activities and enjoy the evening party. Entertainment included rides in the old 1927 Chevy, a special "Lurve and romance walking tour of Ross" push bike rides to picturesque parts of the environs of Ross, home made movies in the "Lurve shed" converted to a movie theatre, and the cherry on the cake, belly dancers. Oh, we couldn't resist the offer to join them wriggling our midlife bellies. Click here to view a slide show of the event.
History and guided tours of Ross
Since 1983 I have been conducting walking tours of Ross where I provide an interesting story of the rich history of Ross. Our bridge is the keystone of the talk where I reveal the stories behind the 186 carvings that are located on the sides of the bridge. Click here to see some of these carvings. Because we are so busy with our family and work commitments I am not as available to provide these tours as much as I would like. I only make myself available for larger groups these days. When you contact me feel free to enquire what I can offer you for a tour if you are interested.
Why do we run the accommodation business? We love meeting guests that stay with us. Many guests have become personal friends of ours over the years. We also love to preserve the old buildings and develop their historic gardens. We used to have antique shops, so preserving furniture and furnishings is important to us, especially if they are being used while being saved. I have also collected some wonderful old cars. Some I have restored, all I have to maintain. We often take them out with others from our local car club. Click here for a slideshow of Tim's cars. We have the same philosophy with the cars as we have for our old buildings, we are only caretakers of these great examples of the past, we are only custodians until we pass the responsibility and enjoyment onto the next people. In the meantime we enjoy what we own.
|
||
To Enquire you may either:
|
More about the B&B style
accommodation
|
