The Dairy, Wentworth Falls: The cream of cottage industry

Character and comfort make this house the centre of attention for Danielle Teutsch.

Where do the Blue Mountains officially begin? If you ask the local council, it's Glenbrook. Ask overseas tourists and they will say the mountains start (and finish) at Katoomba, specifically Echo Point. A friend of mine considers Lawson to be the first real mountain town. For me, however, the mountains begin at Wentworth Falls, at 850 metres above sea level and with the last vestiges of suburbia disappearing.

Here is where you start to see that delightful confluence of factors that give the mountains their character.

Spectacular views of the national park? Check. Gracious character homes? Plenty. Cool-climate gardens? Yes. And, not insignificantly, a good bakery.

Our destination is The Dairy, a cottage on the south side of Wentworth Falls that was once attached to a dairy farm. The cottage dates from 1915 and was recently opened as accommodation by Lew and Cathy Hird, who also run Silvermere Guesthouse, on the other side of the highway. At first glance, the pale yellow weatherboard building is as pretty as a picture. There are jonquils and late-season daffodils flowering in the garden, among plum trees. Next door is a 100-year-old oak tree gracefully spreading its bare branches.

The cottage's three bedrooms have heavy timber doors and stained glass windows, so there is character in spades. But there is also modern comfort and the two are sympathetically blended.

The rear of the house has been opened up, with glass doors letting in the light and providing views of the garden. The kitchen is fully fitted but the original stove has been kept as a decorative feature.

A retro lounge suite has been reupholstered and the wooden dining table that seats 10 is ideal for a convivial meal. But does The Dairy pass the liveability test? As we know, there are holiday homes that have been done up on the cheap, or without much forethought, and are consequently full of niggardly discomforts that are only apparent once you stay there.

Here is where The Dairy really shines. It's as if the owners moved in for a month before they opened it to guests and made a list of everything that would make the cottage more liveable. The attention to detail goes above and beyond the basics: quality cotton sheets, heavy drapes to ward off the chill, underfloor heating in the bathroom, a combustion fireplace with good hardwood and a backyard barbecue big enough to roast a suckling pig.