PUTTING DOWN ROOTS
DU FERMIER CHEF ANNIE SMITHERS HAS CREATED A NEW HOME AT THIS IDYLLIC CENTRAL VICTORIAN PROPERTY.
Chef Annie Smithers really does live by the paddock-to-plate philosophy. We visit her Lyonville farm in Central Victoria to find out how.
SOME THINGS HARDLY need saying, in the same way that night follows day. Annie Smithers and the heart she puts into her cooking with her own farm-grown produce is a case in point. “It’s the narrative of the restaurant and me, that I grow all the stuff for my cooking at my farm — my real passion is to live in connection to the land,” says Annie, chef and owner of the acclaimed Du Fermier restaurant in Trentham, central Victoria. For 14 years, half a hectare of productive gardens behind her cottage in the goldfields town of Malmsbury had been Du Fermier’s bountiful larder. Then in March last year she moved closer to the restaurant when she bought Babbington Park, nine fertile and undulating hectares at Lyonville, with her partner Susan Thompson, the mother of Hannah-rose, 16, and 15-year-old Amelie. The couple met four years ago in Trentham where Susan owned a weekender, and when it came to the whole business of combining their households it was somewhat of a feat. “It was a huge move here,” says Susan. “It was our two households, my two girls, 50 chickens, four cats, three geese, two dogs, two guinea pigs… and a long-suffering budgie!” The move was timed so Annie could get a productive garden going at Babbington Park before she had to leave Malmsbury. “We took possession here in March,” Annie adds. “I auctioned Malmsbury in late April.” And now, a year later with a full cycle of seasons having passed, the new chicken run is bustling with rare breed >
French and Cuckoo Maran chickens, Araucanas and Wyandotte bantams, while a noisy gaggle of Toulouse and Sebastopol geese have the run of the farm yard. Vegetable plots are laid out in long rows on high ground. “We planted in August and have heritage tomatoes, beans carrots, witlof, eggplant, peppers, chilies, chard…” says Annie. “At first we weren’t sure what we could grow in this soil but we have this legendary potato soil a metre deep.” It wasn’t just a bigger garden or even the 10-minute drive to the restaurant that led Annie to Babbington Park. Susan and Annie are engaged, with a wedding planned for early 2019, and put simply, “Malmsbury wasn’t big enough for Susan and two children,” says Annie. “It was also about a new start for us, and there’s so much more potential here for doing things.” One of the area’s oldest properties, Babbington Park was settled by Richard Babington after he took up part of the Holcombe run in 1846. Today, the property has a threebedroom cottage built in 1910 with views to a large lake. Across the driveway is a church equipped with a kitchen, dining space, two bedrooms and bathroom. There are also numerous sheds including a rustic 140-year-old shearing shed. The pair had been looking for a new home to start a life CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE Owners Peter together for some time when they saw Babbington Park on Hayward and Andrew Morphett on the front verandah;tthe hi no mteersnteatd .“si itt shin aedxt‘ep no si ave’ and we thought ,‘ No, we don’t gardens that were once tended by 14 gardeners. think so!’ It went off the market and we were looking at The another piece of land nearby when the agent said we really conservatory off the dining room has stairs leading to al argesbhilloi au rdldro loom kb a et lotwh;itsh,e” cs ourr si adonr, so any c se. an open verandah connecting the homestead’s “When we pulled in I thought, ‘We’re in trouble now!’,” three pavilions, was enclosed with coloured Annie adds. “I looked down to the body of water. It’s the leadlight glass and cedar ceilings; antique dinner warseoounrc de isp fol ary.th eL odd on River, and the soul of the property. You don’t come across this sort of place often, and when you do you pull out all stops. We bought it off market.” >
Susan, who at the time was working as a creative director at a high school in Melbourne, resigned, sold her Trentham house and made the move to Babbington Park with the girls, whom are thriving here. “I’ve plucked the girls out of the city, with no mobile phone coverage and no wi-fi here, they go to school in Kyneton now and they love it.” Since then the couple has been concentrating on getting the church ready to host Annie’s masterclass series, which will run throughout the year. In the house they’ve changed light fittings, pulled off wallpaper, and painted a few walls. “The mudroom in the enclosed verandah is great for unpacking our stuff,” says Susan, who runs the farm, as well as ferrying any produce that might be needed to the restaurant. The banks of the lake are being cleared of gorse and a little summerhouse (Annie’s idea) has just been built at the lake’s edge — the promise of some time for relaxing in the future. “Every now and then Annie throws up a little folly, like the summerhouse,” Annie quips, self-mockingly. But for now, it’s on with the hard work to get established at Babbington Park. “It’s been a huge shift for both of us,” Annie says. “Life is series of never-ending challenges and it might take us the rest of our lives to get the farm to where we want it to be. But it’s exciting... It’s our lovely forever home.” For more information, follow @babbingtonpark and @du-fermier on Instagram or email susan@babbingtonpark.com.au. Du Fermier, (03) 5424 1634; dufermier.com.au