Deb’s front yard is a true country experience, with tree stumps, a mouse crawling down the fence, a dog moulded from tin, a cowboy hat and steer horns made from an old TV stand.

It’s not what you’d expect in the ‘burbs of Adelaide, so naturally Deb has had quite a few curious onlookers.

“There wouldn’t be a week that goes by that I wouldn’t have people stop and look,” she said.

“I’ve got one guy, once a month he comes past to see what I’ve done and he’s from Coober Pedy. He says when he stays here, he has to come past my place just so he feels like he’s home again.”

Mural artist Pandora was commissioned by Deb to paint the façade, garage and fence. Photo: Matthew Abregana

Deb has lived in her house since 2014 but only started working on her front yard in 2021, when homesickness for her roots in country Victoria finally started to catch up.

“I was just getting to a certain age. I just needed to get back into country, and I couldn’t move so I thought ‘hang-on I can start doing my own thing here’,” she said.

The 60-year-old still calls herself a country girl, having grown up and lived around Castlemaine for much of her life. She left her hometown following the drought of the early 2000s, which had a huge impact on her family’s apple and pear orchard.

“I wasn’t going to live off Mum and Dad. They were country people. We said to Dad that you’ve got to go onto Centrelink because we’ve got no money. For the land we were rich. But there was no income,” Deb said.

Upon moving to Adelaide, Deb never quite warmed to the coastal feel, much preferring the bush.

“All my friends were going down to the beach, and I couldn’t stand it. I just need the trees, I need the cattle, the dog, the sheep, the haystack, because that’s what I was brought up with,” she said.

Adelaide-born mural artist Pandora was commissioned to paint some of these animals across the façade of Deb’s house, garage and fence. Pandora hand painted the entire works over a few days and told InDaily it is the only domestic front yard she has worked on.

“It was lovely to do that mural,” she said.

“Usually people want their swimming pool, children’s bedroom or things at the back of the house, so I’ve never done a front yard. That was very unique to Deb.”

Nearly everything else on display at the house was found on the side of the road or donated by friends. Deb met two of these friends, Carol and Jude, because of her front yard.

“Jude walked by and said, ‘I’d just like to compliment you on your yard’, and I showed her the backyard too and it just went from there,” Deb said.

“They really gave me the courage and confidence to keep doing it. I just cannot thank them enough.”

Deb has relied on family and friends to complete the front yard, which she lights up for Christmas. Photo: Matthew Abregana

Jude has often helped Deb put the weekly DIY project together, with a screwdriver at the ready and faith in Deb’s artistic vision.

“Jude even helped me with the fence,” Deb said.

“I thought I’d get some branches but jeez it was just too hard. Then I thought I’d glue the bark, but I got the shits with that. Eventually, I had a couple of tech screws and it stayed! And I said ‘oh beauty!’, rang my mate up, and we built it together. And that was two women over 60.

“Jude will just say ‘I can’t see it, but if you can, I’ll help’.”

This ability to produce something artistic from discarded and often broken scraps is no doubt a creative talent, but Deb is very humble about her works and brushes off attempts to label her an artist.

Deb’s brother-in-law and nephew who still live in country Victoria have also helped her with her projects.

The pair have gifted her various items they built through their family business, Billmans Foundry. Most notably, the metal artwork seen above her front doorway depicting an iconic country landscape with a windmill, horse on hind legs and of course, livestock.

The house, referred to by some locals as the ‘Aussie house’, has created a connection for Deb to the community.

During Christmas she decorates her birds with different colour thimbles and adorns her animals with Santa hats. Deb said she’s not personally fond of Christmas, but when she noticed the kids from the local school stopping by, she had to make an effort.

“If I’m out here doing something they just say, ‘Hi lady, you’ve done really well!’, which is nice to hear,” she said.

The house has a bus stop out the front, making it a prime spot on the street for grabbing the locals’ attention. While this was never the motivation for her project, she’s proud to offer something positive to the community.

“As a person catching the bus, I think it would be nice to look and think ‘what has she done this time?’” Deb said.

“I think the world needs a little bit of a boost.”