Incredible country estate with epic barn listed for sale

A magnificent Fleurieu Peninsula property pays tribute to South Australia’s history and provides a fabulous lifestyle for families.

Vendors Ben and Jade Smith bought Amber Creek, a lush 12.14ha property at 72 Wild Dog Creek Rd, Wattle Flat, almost 20 years ago, when it consisted of just a humble two-bedroom house with a kitchen that only had external access and an outside laundry and toilet.

For the past two decades, they have meticulously transformed the red brick, 1940s home into a stunning oasis, adding a further two bedrooms, creating a more functional kitchen and bringing the laundry and bathroom under the main roofline.

A rustic barn – complete with a timber bar – is surprise inclusion.

It’s the perfect spot to entertain family and friends.

Throughout the painstaking renovations, the couple have incorporated aspects of SA’s history, with a rustic-looking barn, built as an outdoor entertainment space, featuring a timber bar and floorboards made from rafters from an old pavilion at the Adelaide Showgrounds.

The craftsmanship is second-to-none, with the Smiths employing a stonemason who once restored old castles in England to construct the barn’s huge brick fireplace.

A nearby cottage, dubbed the “cubby house’’ by the couple’s three children, was made from stone collected during family picnics to The Meadows and Bull Creek, in the Adelaide Hills.

“The house was one of the first on the (Wild Dog Creek) road,” Mr Smith said.

The family home has been given a stunning renovation.

The kitchen oozes country charm.

The main bedroom comes with a walk-in robe.

“It was built just before, or during, World War II when there was a limit on how much you could spend per house because everything went to the war effort and they actually used bricks from a kiln down the road and just shipped them 700m up here to build it.

“There’s a lot of history here, it’s literally in the bricks and mortar (with the story of how the house was built), then there’s the history of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds and then you’ve also got the (local surrounding) history of the Fleurieu and the beautiful wines.”

Spectacular gardens surround the home, including a sprawling lawn, mature trees and attractive stone walling.

There are four commercial-grade aviaries, built when the Smiths bred Macaws, and four large paddocks, where the children learned to ride horses along a spring-fed creek and dam.

The family bathroom is pretty in white.

The main living area offers room for the whole family.

A study will allow you to work from home.

“One year, the girls got ponies and slug guns for Christmas so we spent summers down at the creek riding the horses and shooting targets like tin cans,” Mr Smith said.

“Because of where it is, there’s no one bothering you. You can do anything you like without anyone caring.”

With the children now moved out of home, Mrs Smith said the time had reluctantly come to sell Amber Creek and allow a new family to create their own special memories.

She said she would particularly miss lying in bed on a Sunday morning, listening to the local birdlife.