Photography: Jessica Bellef
If living intentionally by your values defines a good life, Rachel Torrealba and Dean McCormack are certainly living well. They reside in Collector, NSW, a small village located halfway between Canberra and Goulburn. Here, the resourceful couple is shaping a sustainable future and tuning into nature’s ebbs and flows.
Rachel and Dean’s 2000-metre-square block is modest by rural standards, but the land packs in productivity. The pair have transformed a septic drain field into a thriving micro flower farm. The towering rows of dahlias and cheerful bursts of roses and chrysanthemums are located on the western side of the homestead, an early 1900s weatherboard cottage they hauled from Victoria. The kitchen windows frame a vista of the lush, flowery grid and the Cullerin Range beyond.
Outdoors, flocks of cockatoos and parakeets fill the sky and soundscape, and long sunsets wrap the fecund setting in a golden gauze. “We bought the empty lot in 2017,” says Dean, 53, who works full-time for the Department of Defence in Canberra, 30 minutes’ drive away. He and Rachel, a florist and educator, were living in Australia’s capital when they started plotting a lifestyle change.
“I wanted to grow flowers, Dean wanted to grow vegetables, and we wanted to own our home,” explains Rachel, 54. “We loved the idea of saving and relocating a house because so many older houses these days get knocked over and become landfill.”
They worked with the Victorian-based home relocation company Moving Views, and after inspecting 12 dwellings, house number 13 in Mordialloc delivered on the wish list. After six months of planning and paperwork, the cottage was transported in 2018. “It then took four months to renovate the inside to what we have today,” says Dean, referring to several “hidden gotchas” they encountered. “We had to rewire the entire house because the electrical wiring wasn’t up to the current standard. We also had to tie all the trusses into the foundation because we’re in a high wind area.”
“Everything we’ve done here has been about being more self-sufficient and efficient.”
Dean McCormack, Homeowner
Settled into its new locale overlooking sun-kissed plains, the homestead’s interiors have benefited from Rachel’s formal training in floristry and interior design, and her eye for unique second-hand pieces. Sparkling vintage chandeliers illuminate botanical wallpapers, and the confident blend of antique and modern furniture harmonises with carefully revived period details such as the wide Baltic pine floorboards and ornate moulding.
Rachel’s signature vintage floral-femme style is displayed in two additional standalone dwellings on the property – Collector Cottage and The Flower Shed. They operate as holiday rentals, with one serving double duty as a creative space where Rachel, a former languages teacher for school students, holds flower arranging workshops and high teas.
Salvaged windows and doors add character to these new builds and tap into Rachel’s penchant for the preloved. “I think it comes from having resourceful migrant parents,” says the florist, who was born in Bondi, NSW, with Chilean heritage. “Mum would pick up things from the side of the road before it was fashionable to do so. I used to be so embarrassed by it as an adolescent, but I’m so proud of it now because I’m resourceful, and I see it as such a strength.”
Life in Collector has expanded Rachel and Dean’s resilience and provided many lessons about the land and climate. They arrived during a drought and bought water every 10 days to keep the dahlia tubers happy in the ground. Then came the Black Summer fires, followed by hail and floods, with an infestation of scarab beetles rounding out the challenges.
“It was three years of constant activity around the farm; we kept learning new things,” says Dean, who grew up on the rural western outskirts of Sydney. “Everything we’ve done here has been about being more self-sufficient and efficient.”
With the goal of total self-sufficiency by 2030, the duo has installed two 30,000-litre water tanks, a solar array, battery storage and a septic system. The walled kitchen garden – Dean’s domain – offers a seasonal rotation of herbs, zucchini, tomatoes, corn and more. Beyond the patch’s reclaimed brick wall is an orchard of young fruit trees spreading their roots. Chickens scuffle through the dahlia rows, plucking snails, while Blossom, the couple’s three year- old Boston terrier, races through the ever-evolving plot.
Dean retreats to the garden on weekends and after work. “Any time I get to spend outside, I enjoy,” he says. Rachel splits her time between Collector and her petite flower shop, Blooms of Braddon, in Canberra’s CBD. Opened in early 2025, it bursts with the floral bounty grown and hand-picked daily in Collector. “We very much treat our block as part of our lifestyle rather than just a place to live,” says Dean.
Rachel adds: “Every day, I look out the kitchen window with gratitude. Everything has come together like a puzzle, and it fits perfectly. We feel like we’ve come home.”
