DEEPDALE: REVISITED

IN 2008, DAD AND I QUOTED A JOB AT A FARMSTEAD IN TOODYAY. 3 YEARS LATER, WE CAME HOME.

It was close to knock off time. We were closing in on finishing a monster retaining wall at St Brigids College when a guy pulled over.

“Have I got a job for you blokes!” he said.

He wasn’t wrong.

Deepdale Farm is a magnificent farmstead at the end of a long and windy road in Toodyay, with rolling green hills, 360 degree views, and the Avon River gushing by in the winter months.

At the time it was an operating farm, complete with a farm manager and a decent head of cattle, and its new owners were setting it up as a lavish country getaway.

The vision was grand. Renovated heritage homestead. Equestrian stables. Tennis court. Entertaining sheds. Resort style pool. And a helicopter pad (of course).

Turns out they needed stonework (a lot of it).

AND SO IT BEGINS…

The drive from Yokine to Deepdale Farm is 1 hour and 11 minutes. It’s a long journey, but one I quite enjoyed for the first year or so. As soon as you passed the last traffic lights it was like a mini road trip every morning, thermos coffee in hand with the radio on am. Later, as the enormity of the project became evident, we took the offer to stay at one of the local pubs a couple of nights a week.

We sourced the rock directly from the property - it really did have everything, why not a granite quarry? Every stone was handpicked and driven to site.

The homestead renovations were underway, and there was a lot of work to be done. Stone walls. Stone steps. Stone retaining walls. Stone pillars. Stone paving.

It’s probably easier to break the project down into the main zones.

The entry
There was the gated property entrance, where we built a low rise freestanding rock wall as part of a modern rammed earth and steel gated backdrop. Further along, two modest pillars welcomed arrivals to the main homestead.

The Homestead

Nestled into the hill was the main homestead, where any number of chippies, sparkies, painters worked feverishly (particularly in the weeks/days/hours leading up to the Avon Decent).

This is where most of the stonework was completed.

Carport half walls (adjoining original mud wall)
Pool surrounds (including tiered garden beds, steps, and an enormous 4-metre high pool retainer, pictured below)
Tennis court
Verandah paving (in Toodyay Stone)