When Cindy Westphalen thought about
her dream property, she had very specific
criteria in mind. It wasn’t necessarily about
the size of the property, or its particular
location or facilities. It was about the
feeling she wanted to experience.
‘I wanted to drive up a long driveway and come upon a surprise,’ she
explains. ‘I never thought I’d actually find it, but then we drove up
the driveway here and this beautiful old house was standing there all
alone in this landscape and I thought ‘I’m in heaven’.’‘Here’ is Woodburn Homestead in Langhorne Creek, which Cindy
and husband John purchased shortly after they first ventured up
that eucalypt-lined driveway in 2017. Since then, the Westphalens
have set about thoughtfully restoring and enhancing the originalhouse and nearby chaff shed and stables. Together, the family has
coaxed that kernel of an idea into a striking destination wedding
venue and accommodation.Situated on forty-two acres cradled by the Angas River, Woodburn
Homestead was built in 1864 by Matthew Rankine, son of William
Rankine, one of the earliest European settlers in the area. Quality
sandstone and brick construction and careful maintenance by a
series of owners in the intervening 155 years have shepherded the
house into the present in remarkably good condition. That said, there
was plenty to be done when Cindy took over the property.‘It was in a bit of disrepair, but it was all cosmetic, nothing structural,’
she explains. Case in point: the house was surrounded by ‘
metres of the ugliest green Colorbond fence you’ve ever seen,’ Cindy
says. The fence is now long gone, replaced by a cottage-style
garden lovingly planted by Cindy and her eighty-two year-old father >Page left: Personal touches – with flowers from Harvest Studio. Above: Woodburn Homestead was built in 1864 and now offers a striking destination wedding venue and
accommodation packages.