2012 Spring
Home Ideas
Uncovering a local treasure Having a long association with the Kingsford Homestead only reiterated to Tanunda’s Stefan and Leanne Ahrens the importance of purchasing the historic site when it was no longer needed by Channel 9 for the television series, McLeod’s Daughters. But while the original intentions were for staff functions and allowing business guests to stay in the region and enjoy a Barossa weekend, this soon changed once Leanne, who has studied interior design, realised the potential for a luxury retreat. Talking to Stefan and Leanne about the project they embarked on four years ago and you can sense their enthusiasm and passion. Stefan, who grew up nearby, remembers the time spent on the property when it was owned by the Fotheringham family. “As kids we could come here and muck around and I grew to love the property and the river is fantastic,” said Stefan. It was in 1999 the property entered the market and the Ahrens family had plans for the site which would include the family home and Stefan’s father, Bob’s, collection of steam engines. But with Leanne about to give birth to son, Riley the opportunity wasn’t to be and the Ahrens family went on to renovate two homes and call Tanunda home. Together they admit the tourism sector wasn’t one they at first thought of, but now, two months after being opened they haven’t looked back.
“This is a passion... Leanne and my passion,” said Stefan. “We have never been in that industry... we started out looking at a company B and B rather than what it has become but we probably didn’t realise the potential, we were looking at a business plan far broader than what was thought of.” The homestead now offers luxury style accommodation with gum trees and tranquil views set on 225 acres. Before embarking on the homestead, Leanne took to the paddocks, revegetating the area with an array of native trees. “In the first year we did nothing with the building... the weekends were spent planting thousands of trees,” said Leanne. “That’s really paid off and now we are concentrating on the gullies.” First to receive some attention was Meg’s Cottage, which is now where managers, Pat and Sally Kent live. Old photos realised the treasure they were to uncover – old stone under rendered walls and plaster. Leanne admits previous owners had left the homestead in a bad condition. However, this has allowed the Ahrens family to make their own mark on the place while keeping to the heritage of the building. “One of the rooms, the John Angas suite, was covered in egg cartons and was the sound room,” said Leanne. “In many of the rooms there were steel bars for cameras on the ceilings.” The homestead is heritage listed and while working on the project, Leanne had to be mindful of this and sought advice accordingly.
“Architecturally it is very plain, there’s no rails or cornices or ceiling roses... quite simplistic inside for its age so it was quite easy to abide by,” said Leanne. “I would say the rooms are contemporary but still classic, so we still kept with heritage of the home.” Work on the homestead started with Leanne building five extra bathrooms and the themes were carried into the rooms. However, each room has its own distinctiveness while still keeping to simple colours to encourage a return trip. “Each suite has French provincial decor and in most of the rooms we have used Belgian linen,” said Leanne. “It has been really exciting for me and exciting to be able to think I could do seven different bathrooms with fittings and different bedrooms.” Also adding to the challenge was the kitchen - turning a homestyle kitchen into one with commercial standards. “We did have to meet commercial standards and it was a matter of getting your head around it. We had a lot of good advice from chef, Stuart Oldfield and that really helped,” said Leanne. “We still wanted the kitchen to look like a homestead kitchen and we did that with the cabinetry to look quite French provincial and using glass splash back rather than stainless steel and granite bench tops.” Leanne agrees the experience has been a big learning curve, particularly as the aim was to make the homestead look like a farm, not a ranch. “We wanted the driveway very Australian and natural... but when you get here it is almost Georgian style home which is quite unusual and you are not expecting that,” said Leanne. “When you are dealing with an old home, quite often to do one thing you need to do four things to do what you want to fix or restore.”
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31 ADELAIDE ROAD, GAWLER SOUTH
D LIMITE R E F OF D LIMITE K C STO BA9305-V6
(Opposite McDonald’s - Gawler)