FIVE years ago, Danish businesswoman and entrepreneur Karin Adcock moved from Sydney to what she would later develop to be Winmark Wines in Broke.
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The 138-acre property is famous for its chardonnay grapes, and resulting wine. The rest is native bushland, populated with 14 incredible sculptures, with another on the way. She has a cellar door, art gallery and four different accommodation sites, which are often available to rent.
From a tiny house to a huge house which sleeps 14, each residence has a story, (and two come with pools.) Although the four houses are very different in size and layout, they are all warm and welcoming.
Adcock lives in the Winmark private residence. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom house includes an alfresco area and tennis courts.
"It was initially built by David Clarke in the '70s. Rod Windrim, who was the original owner of Krinklewood, was involved with the renovations about 20 years ago which included adding the top level to the home and the [extra] bathrooms," she says.
Landscape designer Paul Bangay OAM designed the pool area and the perennial and rose gardens. She made changes when they first moved in, too.
"The foundations of the house remain the same, we still have the bedrooms and bathrooms," she says. "But we have changed the Africa room from being a fly screened open area, to having glass doors that can completely open up in summer to be a beautiful alfresco area, or stay closed through winter and let the sun warm the room before the fireplace that we added creates beautiful winter evenings. We also took out the old fireplace in the large living area of the house, and put in a beautiful sandstone fireplace."
They painted everything, put new carpets in the main living area, and made the kitchen bigger and utilised the space better.
Chairs with zebra hides, drums, vases, animal sculptures and a striking elephant photo, it's clear where the Africa Room gets its name. It was inspired in part because Adcock spent lots of time in Africa in her younger days. Shortly after she purchased the property she was in South Africa, and shipped a 200-foot container full of furniture and artifacts back to Australia.
The room also has furniture from San Francisco, Vegas, Fiji and even Newport.
The Cockfighter's Ghost sign in the room was on the property when she arrived. Previously the vineyard was called Pooles Rock and owned by Clarke. Clarke also owned Firesticks and Cockfighters Ghost Wines.
Art is everywhere at Winmark. Adcock is a collector and built the gallery so she could have an excuse to enjoy as much art as she possible.
"I don't tend to follow one specific style. I have a very broad collection of many pieces I have collected from artists all over the world," she says "I do like a lot of art, but the most important thing is that the pieces I own have to speak to me. It has to resonate with me, I've got to be able to connect to the piece. There's many pieces of artwork I appreciate, but to own artwork I believe there has to be a very personal connection to it."
She's happy that the guests can enjoy the art in her houses as well.
"Every piece resembles a unique story. I have always believed if you have something beautiful it should be enjoyed and should not be hidden away. It's always been important to me that people feel welcome, and that these pieces can be shared," she says.
It's not your traditional home, and you don't feel like you're staying at someone else's house. It's just a beautiful space with lots to enjoy.
"I have always had a love for finding unusual pieces and for creating beautiful spaces for people to enjoy, both inside and outside. One of my favourite things to do on the property is to walk around the vineyard and cut the roses to make sure they continuously flourish. The more you cut them back, the more they flower again," she says.
Along with roses, she grows citrus, including grapefruits, lemons, oranges, cumquats, mandarins and kefir lemons (and recently added finger limes). She's making jams and chutneys; they serve and sell the cumquat chutney at the cellar door.
In a few short years Adcock has done so much with the land, the business and the houses. She's making citrus jam, sweet chardonnay and idyllic holidays. It all seems extraordinarily dreamy.
