Home Away From Home: Green Hills House

Some houses hold your hand the moment you arrive. Others watch you for a while before letting you in. Green Hills House feels like both – a place steeped in layered memory, where old ghosts dance across timber floors and the scent of lemon blossom rides the breeze.

In this edition of our Home Away From Home series, we visit Green Hills House – a soulful AirBnB tucked into the rolling hills of Blackbutt, Queensland. Here, the past lingers in every polished floorboard and creaky door hinge, and the present is wrapped in thoughtful ritual, scent and story. Its custodian shares a deep connection to the home, one that began long before a single object was placed or a guest ever arrived.

↑ Riza Taylor, the caretaker of Green Hills House – a woman who speaks to her home like an old friend. Image: Katelyn Neilsen

↑ Our Place has become the signature scent of the house. It’s honest, warm, and inviting — like the light of the setting western sun falling across the block. It’s part of the soul of this place now. Image: Katelyn Neilsen

The Story Behind Green Hills House

What is the story behind Green Hills House? If the walls could talk, what would they say?

I’ve always believed that homes have souls — a kind of spirit that lingers, shaped by all those who’ve lived and loved within their walls. I’ve spent most of my life in old houses, and this idea helps me connect to them. I greet our home when we arrive and say goodbye when we leave, always with a little “I love you.” It might sound odd, but I feel strongly that houses remember — and I want to be on good terms with mine.

The land was first purchased in the late 1800s by William Houston, a prominent local businessman who went on to build two grand hotels here: The Royal and The Blackbutt. Both reportedly burned down after late-night cigars and whisky sessions in their billiard rooms. In 1939, Green Hills House was built as a grand family home for Houston and his family. Local lore says it hosted dances on special sprung timber floors. I imagine the walls would whisper stories of candlelit dinners and twirling gowns, of cigars and laughter by the fire, of homemade lemonade passed from kitchen to court on summer days filled with tennis and talk.

After the home failed to pass down through the family line, it was auctioned off in the 1960s as one of the original Mater Prize Homes — part of a postwar initiative to help veterans enter the housing market. Not long after we purchased the property in 2019, a local man introduced himself. He told us he’d spent his entire week’s wage on raffle tickets for that draw but hadn’t won. He spoke lovingly of the house and the once-manicured gardens, explaining that his grandfather had been the original groundskeeper and that he’d spent much of his childhood exploring the property.

The tennis court, it’s said, was a formative stomping ground for Blackbutt-born tennis champion Roy Emerson.

Making a Home Away From Home

How did you go about decorating Green Hills House and creating a retreat for others?

For our private residence, it was a process of dreaming, planning, and slowly curating. I took cues from the architecture and local stories — listening, really, to who Green Hills House wanted to be. It’s still evolving. I spent two years gathering pieces from all over Australia: antiques, roadside finds, op shop treasures, gifts from friends, inherited items, and small keepsakes from overseas trips. One display cabinet holds my father-in-law’s university notes from the 1940s; others hold storm-blown bird nests and hand-drawn sketches by my children.

The property is made up of three buildings: the main homestead (our private family retreat), the Cottage, and the converted Stables – now our AirBnB rental.

My aim is always to create spaces that are beautiful, comfortable and lived-in. I want guests to feel inspired and at ease the moment they walk in.

The homestead has that old-world grandeur – leadlight windows, panelled walls, high ceilings, sunrooms, mouldings, ceiling roses. Even when we bought it in its tired state, you could feel her old bones were something special. My goal was to restore her with care and reverence, not to erase what time had etched in.

The Stables were a different journey. Originally an agricultural building, the rooms had horse feed boxes and rails. I preserved the mismatched reclaimed timber and worn floorboards – timber with that certain beauty only a century of weather and work can create. I wanted to honour its humble origins, while adding quiet luxuries: vintage woollen blankets, good linen, bedside lamps styled like old kerosene burners. Art is simple and sparse – small works depicting the Australian countryside on timber walls. No excess. Just honesty.

For guests, I focus on small, intimate gestures. I love creating tablescapes – to me, it’s like painting in three dimensions. A little scene, ready for memory-making.

Local Gems

Where do you recommend guests visit?

• The Radnor Hotel – Warm atmosphere, generous pub meals.
• Brisbane Valley Rail Trail (BVRT) – A scenic route for walkers and cyclists, right past our boundary.
• Whipbird Café, Coolabunia – A charming café in a converted church with fresh local blooms and excellent meals.
• South Burnett Vineyards – Beautiful drops at Moffatdale, Clovely, and Dusty Hill Estates.
• Pechey Gin Distillery – A new local favourite.
• Myrtille – Fine dining 45 minutes away, with the beautiful My Little Blueberry artisan bakery next door.

Personal Rituals and Favourite Moments

What’s your favourite time of day or season at Green Hills House?

Golden hour, from around 4pm, is pure magic. You’ll find me under the huge boughs of the Jacaranda tree. In spring, the crepe myrtles turn the ground into a pink and mauve wonderland — it’s otherworldly.

Do you have any grounding rituals?

I always bring something from the outside in — a posy, pretty stones, seashells. I create little vignettes, small altars of sorts, that help me feel anchored in a space.

The Soul of Scent

Which Southern Wild Co scent feels like Green Hills House?

This part is close to my heart — it’s actually how I first discovered Southern Wild Co. I was searching for a scent that could be Green Hills House.

Scent triggers nearly all my most precious memories. Wisteria by my grandmother’s back gate, jasmine at her front door, crab apple blossoms in my hometown, wild lilacs on the ride home from swim training. I wanted our homecoming to be like that — a memory etched in scent, not just for me, but for my children and guests.

Our Place has become the signature scent of the house. It’s honest, warm, and inviting — like the light of the setting western sun falling across the block. It’s part of the soul of this place now.

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Visit Green Hills House here.
Discover Our Place here.