Hand-carved laying boxes inside the chook sheds at South Hill, an 1830s homestead near Goulburn, are shaped to avoid ruffling tail feathers.
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Previous owners secured a $2000 government grant to restore the ornate sheds perched on a gentle slope overlooking the Hume Highway.
Current owners Roland and Linda Gumbert from Sydney's northern beaches are yet to embrace their egg-laying asset and don't care about ruffling feathers.
Instead, they have established a fine arts gallery, quickly capturing an acclaimed list of contributing artists and a following.
Pop artist Martin Sharp, whose covers and cartoons enlivened the anti-establishment Oz magazine, took up the Gumberts' invitation to become their patron.
Until his death in December, Sharp steered prominent artists to South Hill, having declared it the new Yellow House, that famous Potts Point home of writer Frank Clune that Sharp helped turn into a haven for famous artists in the late 1960s.
Mr Gumbert says Sharp remains their patron in spirit. But his suggestion that other people in Yellow House are ready to fill the patron's role meets strong resistance.
''Again, I repeat, no!'' says Mrs Gumbert. ''Martin will be [patron] until eternity. He did a lot. He talked about us, he gave us good press, he said we were doing wonderful things, he called this the new Yellow House.''
Having Archibald prize winner Cherry Hood as their curator and exhibitions by Yellow House artists Philippe Mora, Jim Anderson and John Lewis - ''people who would make other gallery owners cry with delight'' according to the owners - has drawn audiences from Canberra, Sydney, the Southern Highlands and the south coast.
Yet Goulburn folk baulked at travelling the three kilometres to their gallery.
''We have had moments where we have had to seriously question what we are doing here,'' Mrs Gumbert said.
What were they expecting?
''I have to ask myself that. What was I expecting and, no, it does not surprise me and I take full responsibility for it and it is not that the community owes the gallery anything.''
High real estate prices in nearby capital cities were pushing people, new blood and hope into their adopted town.
''Goulburn will not be able to stay in its old mindset forever because it is a changing town,'' Mrs Gumbert said.
The two former lawyers are determined to dig in, weather cold winters and wait for a cultural shift.
Goulburn's first Regional Art Gallery director Jennifer Lamb, who left the role in 2007 after 24 years, had long strived for more appreciation of the arts in the town.
''By that time they had done surveys through the [Goulburn] council; although people recognised the work of the gallery was of a good standard, they still thought it was one of the least important things council did,'' Ms Lamb said.
Ms Lamb could understand the out-of-town location being a hurdle, but said it was only early days for South Hill's gallery.
The Gumberts plan to convert outbuildings, including a timber barn with sandstock brick flooring, into a studio and accommodation for an artist-in-residence program.
One of the famous chook pens will be converted into a pottery kiln room. In time the chooks will return, a lower priority to a promising art venture.