Had a wonderful afternoon yesterday welcoming Con back to the place of his birth - Kythera. Let me hasten to say not Kythera in the Aegean Sea but Kythera in the heart of the Boyne Valley. Nich,
Con's father, had left his Ionian homeland in the early 1900s and appears to have arrived in the Boyne Valley around 1912. Later, as a member of local government he was told his name was too hard to say. "I'll call you Nich the Greek" he was told by the Shire Clerk. Nick rose up to his full five foot four and said "No you won't. You will call me Nich of Hellene." From then on he adopted the name Nicholas Hellen and became recognised as a leading farmer in our valley. He built this grand home on his property and named it Kythera. As we agreed yesterday he appears to have combined the architectural styles of his Greek heritage and his adopted country's Queenslander style, a home on high blocks with wide verandahs.
Margaret, I love your story about the house and your father-in-law. What a beautiful home. Your picture really shows it off well, and I assume that's Con admiring it. Thank you for sharing.
