Inside the $10m expansion of Barossa Valley’s Kingsford Homestead, once home to McLeod’s Daughters

Go inside the $10m luxury redevelopment of a historic Barossa Valley homestead that was once the home of Channel 9 drama McLeod’s Daughters.

The Barossa Valley’s historic Kingsford Homestead has officially reopened following a $10m luxury redevelopment, designed to attract high-end Australian and international tourists to the region.

Once used as the Drover’s Run set for long-running television drama McLeod’s Daughters, the property, northeast of Gawler, has been expanded to include 10 new suites, three unique bar areas, a restaurant, a 21m-long wine cellar, function room, outdoor saltwater pool and even a Kegelbahn – a traditional German indoor bowling alley.

A function room at Kingsford The Barossa. Picture: Matt Turner

The bowling alley. Picture: Matt Turner

But importantly for fans of the iconic TV series, the original 165-year-old homestead has remained largely untouched, with owners Stefan and Leanne Ahrens focused on maintaining the property’s “cultural heritage”.

Mr Ahrens, who bought the property from Kerry Packer in 2008, said he and his wife wanted to create the country’s top accommodation, food and wine drawcard for domestic visitors as well as international guests once borders reopen.

“We’re really going to showcase the very best of South Australia and Australia,” he said.

“It will give a real home to high-end stays and visitors. Certainly if you look at that Asian market who love food and wine, our aim is to be the number one food and wine accommodation experience in Australia. We really believe that will be a big market, along with people from America and Europe and anywhere in the world.

“We’re 45 minutes from Adelaide and you get here and you feel like you’re right in the middle of Australia. We’ve got amazing Angus cattle in the paddock, we’ve got kangaroos around the place … it’s a real natural Australian landscape.”

Designed and built by the couple’s own construction company, the Ahrens Group, the redevelopment of Kingsford the Barossa has been a “true labour of love”, according to Mr Ahrens.

The wine cellar. Picture: Matt Turner

Max Mason with Claire Petersen at Kingsford The Barossa. Picture: Matt Turner.

One of the accommodation rooms. Picture: Matt Turner.

“We’ve built it how they would have built it 165 years ago, that’s been really important. We’re very much focused on upholding the cultural heritage of the Barossa,” he said.

“We feel like we are custodians of the property, we’ve been in the Barossa a long time and we’re very focused on making sure we look after it.”

The original Georgian-style country house, built in 1856 by British pastoralist and entrepreneur Stephen King, was used as the main location for hit Australian drama McLeod’s Daughters for eight seasons. Mr Ahrens said fans of the show would not be disappointed with the redevelopment, which features rooms from $695 up to $1800 a night.

“We’ve had McLeod’s Daughters fans here and they love the whole experience. They can go and stay in their favourite star’s room and when we show the photos of when we bought the place to what it is now, they all think it’s fantastic,” he said.

The cast of McLeod's Daughters in 2007: Dustin Clare, Doris Younane, Matt Passmore, Michala Banas, Luke Jacobz, Gillian Alexy, (front) Abi Tucker and Simmone Jade MacKinnon.

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