AFR: From retro to romantic: wineries raise the luxury stay stakes
“At first glance, the modest yellow-brick house set on an elevated block overlooking Polperro Winery looks more like a post-war relic from ’50s suburbia than coast-and-country luxury accommodation.
“My old vineyard manager lived there,” says winemaker Sam Coverdale, who has owned the Mornington Peninsula winery next door with his wife, Emma Phillips, since 2013.
When their neighbour and friend bought the property, he offered the couple full run of the three-bedroom house. “It was derelict,” explains Phillips. “He said if we renovated it, we could have it [to use].”
Phillips engaged the services of Hecker Guthrie design studio, which had worked on several projects for the couple – the winery’s hatted restaurants Polperro Vineyard Dining and Many Little, located nearby at Red Hill Village, and Amelie and Frank’s, the exclusive boutique next door.
“Hecker Guthrie has a distinctive design style that’s understated, but their eye for detail and level of craftsmanship is exquisite,” says Phillips.
From the road, Hecker Guthrie’s handiwork isn’t immediately appreciable, though the Farmhouse, as it’s known, has been given a decent spit and polish. Once you’re inside, however, you appreciate what the design studio has done.
“You walk in and just feel this warmth and energy,” says Phillips.
While the interiors feel inviting and lived-in, the lose-yourself views inevitably draw you outdoors to an open-air kitchen, dining spaces shaded by a towering oak, and a sunny lounging area with Adirondack chairs circling a fire pit.
“This is about celebrating the whole property,” says Phillips. “It’s for big long, lazy lunches we can have catered. We even let a group of girls bring their own chef for a 30th birthday.”
Click here to read more from Paul Best for the Australian Financial Review.
