FOR 30 YEARS, the name Simmone Logue has meant Christmas. Ever since she sold her first fruit mince pie, back when she launched her catering business from the kitchen of her Sydney flat in 1990, she’s been spreading her love of homegrown Christmas baking to homes far and wide.
Simmone’s home, Essington Park, in Oberon, NSW, is always the setting for the family’s festive gatherings – and you only need to look at it in these pages to understand why. The grand house was built in 1860, and by the time Simmone and her twin sister, the artist Joanna Logue, bought it in the late 1990s, had fallen into disrepair. Over the next 15 years, the women lovingly restored it, and now the kitchen, with its vast, original fireplace, complete with swinging cast-iron arm to hang pots from, is the heart of the home; a bright, welcoming space that’s just perfect for hosting celebrations.
“Christmas is my favourite time of year with my favourite people in the world,” Simmone says. “My siblings, Andy and Joanna, are excellent cooks. We all moosh in and we’re like
