Originally built after the war by Max and Eric Harris, the Beermullah shearing shed has recently been restored beyond it’s former glory by it’s current owners, Phil and Sally Barrett-Lennard.
Phil celebrated his 19th birthday in the already dilapidated shed, and recalls with a smile that an exuberant reveller fell through the rotting floorboards during the party.
Now busy with a young family, as well as a cattle farm and an agricultural consulting business to run, Phil indulged his dream of renovating the old shed to become his office, with the added benefit of providing accommodation for guests and family a stones throw from the main farmhouse.
The result is a captivating space which pays tribute to the past by retaining the original hand cut wandoo poles and rusty tin, along with a few quirky relics, and gently introduces it to the present with beautiful cabinetwork, sturdy recycled jarrah flooring and modern conveniences sympathetically worked into the building.
Phil and his wife Sally drew on the skills of local tradesmen Gary Martinovich, along with Rab, Mel and Daniel Richards to reclaim the building, recladding and insulating the roof from above using recycled tin from the Greenwell’s Wallering farmhouse. The old shed is now flooded with light and views of the surrounding pasture. Huge sliding doors fashioned from recycled timber by local carpenter Nick Ackerman, offer an enticing glimpse of the Beermullah lake beyond.
The shed provided the perfect setting for the Northern Valleys News Christmas dinner which embraced the spirit of upcyling; “The process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.”
Our Christmas tree is a painted flower stalk from the Agave Americana (common around the Northern Valleys), our angel, rusty chicken wire. Phil and Sally’s hand crafted barbed wire light shade casting the perfect rustic glow over our feast of Northern Valleys flavours.
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To Drink
Pimms and dry with slices of lime
New Norcia Blanc de Blanc
New Norcia Abbey Ale
To Start
- Smoked salmon pinwheels with cream cheese and Toodyay capers
- Local cherry tomatoes with bocconcini and fresh basil leaves
- Plum pudding’ meatballs made with Bindoon Estate beef, topped with mayonnaise and basil
- Prawn and zucchini skewers cooked on the BBQ
- Fresh yabbies from the dam
Main Course
- Roasted turkey roll with pistachio stuffing, made by Bindoon Fresh Farm Meats.
- Northern Valleys style summer salsa with cherry tomatoes, local nectarines and peaches, Gingin avocados and coriander – drizzled with extra virgin olive oil dressing from Maggie’s Place. Served in cos lettuce cups from the Loose Leaf Lettuce Company.
- Local Frenched lamb chops, from Bindoon Fresh Farm Meats cooked on the BBQ and served with roasted potato chips.
Dessert
- Cos’s ginger snaps with butter creme and dolloped with raspberry jam from Maggie’s place
- Chocolate mousse and Rocky road
Later
- Bindoon Estate Port with New Norcia Nutcake
