Meet Jodie and James, Owners of Freddie + Mr Percival [The Famous Mini-Donks of Bundanoon] and City & Sticks Artisan Store

The sun has made a rare appearance. There are whip birds in the background, and we can watch the shenanigans of mini-donkeys, Freddie and Mr Percival, as we sit with Jodie and James Fulford-Talbot on the balcony of their Bundanoon property, Fulford Folly.

[And by shenanigans we mean the mini donks, as they’re affectionately known around town, are watching us watching them hoping one of us will get up and deliver a carrot down to their paddock in the near future]. 

It’s all pretty darn idyllic and thanks to being invited by Chris and Erin from Community Bank BDCU to catch up for a chinwag, it’s the perfect setting to chat with Jodie and James. 

The couple bought Fulford Folly about seven years ago, perhaps not realising at the time the importance the property and the community would have on their tree change plans. 

“This was not meant to be a full time move,” says James. 

“But the community, this home, the bushfires and Covid have all played a part in us settling here. And when we watch the sunrise from our bedroom – we call it Dawn TV – it makes us so glad it all turned out the way it did.”

Let’s find out more…..

PHOTO // Iceblink Creative

From Balmain to Bundanoon! Tell us how the story started.

Jodie :: Every year we go away with a big group of friends and stay in a lovely house. In 2015, we were staying at The Rift in Bowral and started think about what if WE bought a place that groups of friends could come to and that we could use as an escape from the city? 

James :: It was funny because that weekend Jodie and I were both out jogging separately and both thinking to ourselves this would be a great place to buy a property in the country. When we met up after our jog, we chatted about it and that’s when the ball started rolling. 

Jodie :: That afternoon, the whole group of us went traipsing around all the real estate agents in Bowral giving them very clear instructions on what we wanted – half an acre, ready to move into with no work needed…….

PHOTO // Iceblink Creative

So, what happened to THAT brief? You ended up with a house in Bundanoon and twelve months of renovations! 

James ::  Initially, Jodie was adamant that it had to be in Bowral or Burradoo. 

Jodie :: To be fair, I didn’t even know where Burradoo was at that time! I just wanted somewhere that was commutable from Sydney, so Bowral was ticking the boxes. 

James :: While I really like Bowral, it still felt a bit busy to me. If we were going to live in the country, I wanted to be in a place where we could hear the birds, there was no background noise, and everything was just a little bit slower and quieter. 

Jodie :: That changed when we arrived VERY early for a viewing of a house in Bowral, only to kill some time by driving to Bundanoon. We saw a home for sale described as a Grand Designs style barn conversion. 

James :: That got our attention, so we decided to have a look at it. It was out near Penrose so somewhere along the route, Jodie said ‘oh, it’s quite nice out here’ and then immediately went into ‘finding’ mode and pointed out this place as we were driving along. 

Jodie :: We stuck our heads over the gate and actually thought we were buying the big shed at the end of the driveway because that’s all we could see!

James :: We contacted the real estate agent, had a look at it and bought it. It was actually the only place we ended up looking at.

PHOTO // Iceblink Creative

You didn’t move in straight away, did you? 

James :: We kept our place in Balmain and worked on the house for twelve months before renting it out as an Airbnb property and spent as much time as we could here. 

Jodie :: It took us a year to get a working bathroom! 

James :: While we were doing that, we got to know the local community and started to do things like move all our banking across to BDCU – we liked their story and thought that if we’re going to be here, then we support local as much as we can, which was the impetus behind opening the City & Sticks pop-up store in Bowral. 

Jodie :: That was only meant to be for a month but ended up running for over six months.

Was a permanent move always on the cards? 

James ::  When we first bought the property, I said to Jodie this place will have a bigger impact on us than we think because there was something very different about the area. 

Jodie :: I would say to James he was like a Labrador….the closer we’d get to Bundanoon, he’d start wagging his tail….so to speak! 

James :: We did a similar thing in the UK – we’re from there originally – where we had a house in the country to escape to and a flat in London for work, but I’ve always preferred the country. 

Jodie :: And I like to have a balance of both….

PHOTO // Iceblink Creative

So what was it that led to living in Bundanoon full-time?

James :: It was a combination of things really. 

Jodie :: We had taken a year off work to go travelling and came back to Australia in August 2019. A few months after that, the bushfires hit the Highlands, so we stayed in Bundanoon to keep an eye on the property. 

James :: The bushfires, as horrendous as they were, brought out the best of the community we’re in. It was amazing interacting with everyone and seeing how everyone looked after each other. That was when we realised how special this community was and knew this is where we wanted to be. It was a real forming moment for us. 

Jodie :: When Covid followed shortly after, we went into lockdown here at Fulford Folly both of us working from home and were so grateful that this is where we were actually locked down. We still had the space, the freedom [to a point], the nature and the community around us. 

James :: And to be honest, if Covid hadn’t opened people’s and businesses’ eyes to the possibilities of remote working, we’d probably still have to be in Sydney because we had to, not because we wanted to.

Tell us a little more about how BDCU helped contribute to solely focusing on being in the Highlands.

Jodie :: The change came about when we were thinking about selling Balmain and refinancing Fulford Folly. We’re rate tarts and always looking for a good deal and because we had our banking with BDCU, we checked their rate out – it was very competitive – so we got in touch and met Chris! 

Chris :: It was great to meet Jodie and James. I came out here to the property and got a good understanding of what they were after. 

Jodie :: It can be challenging when you’re refinancing and ‘don’t fit in a box’. James and I used to have two corporate incomes but now we both do contract work and at the time, had the City & Sticks pop-up shop as an ongoing investment. We definitely didn’t fit in a box. It was nice to explain all that to Chris – an actual human, instead of trying to explain it all on forms with little boxes! 

Chris :: From meeting them and chatting on the phone a number of times, I got a real understanding of their situation and what they were trying to achieve and managed to get them on a ripper of a rate, which I thoroughly recommend they lock in right now….the financial landscape is starting to change, so it would be a good time.

PHOTO // Iceblink Creative

And you have two very famous inhabitants at Fulford Folly now….

Jodie :: Owning mini donkeys was always a bit of a pipedream for us but when we bought this property, we finally had the space to become parents to a couple of mini donks – Freddie and Mr Percival. 

James :: They’ve really helped us connect with the community. I’m not sure if we’d have the same relationship with the community if it wasn’t for them. 

Jodie :: We’re the donkey people now! I had a package delivered from Birch recently and it had Donkey Lady on the sticker. 

James :: I quite like being known as the Donkey Man.

Jodie :: Mini donkey!!

James :: Well, that’s fine as well.

PHOTO // Iceblink Creative

At this point, we all fall about laughing and take a few minutes to compose ourselves!!

So, is it everything you envisaged – the move to Bundanoon? 

James :: Well, we hadn’t really envisaged it….we had no idea that we’d go through bushfires, then end up setting up a store which allowed us to connect with 80+ artists and artisans. We definitely didn’t envisage locking down on and off for two years thank to a global pandemic….or becoming part of the Winterfest committee or joining the RFS….we’ve evolved as life has done it’s thing around us. 

Jodie :: It’s definitely good for the soul living here and then getting our city fix through work or regular visits. I do enjoy getting on the evening train from the CBD, having a couple of wines on the train and then jumping off, crossing the road and heading into the Bundanoon Pub for dinner. 

James :: Ah yes, a village with a pub was definitely part of my criteria. And when we go away now and stay in some lovely places, we think to ourselves well this is nice…..but home is lovely too. 

Jodie :: And we still think we have the best bathroom in the world.

PHOTO // Abbie Melle

We do too!!

This article was proudly brought to you by the supportive team at Community Bank BDCU sharing the inspiring stories of locals doing amazing things.

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