As well as the intoxicating smell of honeysuckle from a bush near the main house, a visit to Cambrey Farm in Pialligo is marked most by a sense of calm.
The 2.4 hectare farmlet on Beltana Road is so incredibly well-positioned in the city that has grown up around it - "We can walk to the airport," owner Lindy Ross said - but it is also a tranquil oasis in the national capital and a nod to Canberra's past.
The former poultry farm, set back from the road behind a paddock of alpacas, between the nursery centres, was established in the 1930s and bought by Lindy's parents, Noel and Enid Eliot in 1954.
Cambrey Farm is open to the public this weekend, showcasing not only its gardens but the restored Old Barn Gallery, which was originally a grains store for the poultry farm. Several artists will be exhibiting and selling their works there over the weekend.
Lindy and Bob, both retired teachers, were this week busy preparing the garden for visitors, nearly 70 years after her parents first purchased the property.
Although designed as a low-water-use garden, there are two 10,000 litre rainwater tanks on the property as well as bore water.
"I would say it's a very relaxed garden," Lindy said.
"It has cottage and formal and open spaces. A little bit of native. It's really a garden that has had to grow up with the conditions here. We get severe frosts and the winds coming in from the west can be very strong."
It's still a country garden, a throwback to when Pialligo was a collection of nurseries, orchards and small farming operations.
Lindy's father was in the air force and after postings from Japan to Brisbane, was finally transferred to Fairbairn when he bought the property at Pialligo. The Eliots continued to run it as a poultry farm, collecting, packing and selling the eggs themselves.
"I've had lots of people say to me, 'I used to buy eggs from your mum and dad'," Lindy said.
She went to school at Duntroon Public School at the end of the road. After finishing university, Lindy moved away and spent 30 years teaching in country towns, eventually becoming the principal at Collector school.
She met Bob, also a teacher who became principal of Melba Copland Secondary School and an education executive.
They moved back to Pialligo in 2000, building another home on the site, living there with her parents and their three children.
Today, Lindy and Ross share the property with their son Andrew, daughter-in-law Rita and granddaughters Lalin, eight, and Victoria, seven.
Living there is a pure pleasure.
"We hope Pialligo continues to maintain its character and its special place in Canberra's heart," Lindy said.
The old barn reflects their desire to maintain the heritage of the property. The original owners of the farm in the 1930s built the barn using timber and other materials from the former Molonglo internment camp in what is now Fyshwick.
The doors and the floorboards in the barn are from the camp. The metal exterior walls are original and some are made from flattened kerosene tins.
Lindy and Ross have restored the space - keeping in it now beautiful vintage farm machinery including the feed mixer - to create an art gallery. They wanted it to be an affordable space for local artists to show their work.
"And we've met so many interesting people," Lindy said.
Cambrey Farm, 18 Beltana Road, will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm as part of Open Gardens Canberra.
There will be a plant produce stall and bagged alpaca manure for sale.
Afternoon teas will be available, as well as a sausage sizzle and Thai food.
Tickets for non-members can be booked through Eventbrite.
The nominated charity will be Bears of Hope, in honour of the Ross' daughter Emily who passed away last year.
