It is a joy for us when we come across people who are as passionate about curtains as we are. So it was an absolute pleasure for us to deal with Allison and Carl, owners of Allora House.
Allora House
Allora House is an authentic turn-of-the-century heritage listed guesthouse, built in the 1890’s, and located in historic Kalgoorlie. It was built by Sir J.D. Connolly, who established the WA Food Quality Act, Women and Children’s Health Act as well as the Women and Children’s hospital in Perth. Allison and Carl take tremendous pride in how they have meticulously restored this lovely home, whilst faithfully honouring its heritage.
But whilst Hay Interiors has developed a reputation for designing and making authentic curtains and blinds for character houses throughout Perth, in suburbs such as Dalkeith, Subiaco and Mount Lawley, Allison and Carl hadn’t yet heard of us in Kalgoorlie.
Allison and Carl had researched heritage appropriate curtains and knew roughly what they wanted (Carl even provided detailed diagrams) but they couldn’t find a curtain shop which would do authentic out of standard size curtains. They came to use after reaching out to museums seeking guidance on who they could use, and the Gwalia Museum told them that we had done a fine job with the window coverings at the historic Hoover House.
Dealing with locations hundreds of kilometers from Perth presents some challenges, however after hours of communication on the phone, guidance on correct measurements, the importance of curtain headings for heritage houses, and lots of fabric samples being mailed, we managed to create drapes and window coverings which are unique, styled for each room and compliment the beauty of these buildings.
Hoover House
Being trained as a curtain maker in the UK, does mean I am skilled in all traditional sewing methods, and I take pride in custom making curtains and blinds with specific detailing, such as the picture at the top of the article, and the pelmet, and swag and tails (from Hoover House) below:
However to deliver authentic heritage curtains, apart from knowledge of various sewing styles and heritage styling, it is vital to use the correct fabrics. This is why we made a deliberate choice to stock a huge range of curtain fabric samples and choose to deal with virtually all curtain fabric suppliers in Australia.
Allison and Carl consider themselves ambassadors for Kalgoorlie and chose the colour of the below silk curtains as a nod to Kalgoorlie’s red landscape.
Allison and Carl are wonderful custodians of Allora House and the following from their website tells you the type of people they are,
“Our house brings us joy and we want to share that with you.”
If you’d like to follow them, this is the Allora House facebook page and Allora House instagram page.
Lastly, if you are looking for curtains or blinds for your character building or museum, we are a curtain shop which will partner with you in creating something complimentary to the architecture of your building.
