Woollahra Homestead expanding to a farm to plate cafe and shop

The owners of a stunning rural property in the Gympie region have revealed their plans for the site, after trading city life to pursue their dream of a rural paradise.

Designs for a cafe and shop at Woollahra Homestead hoping to be completed by August 2023. The property, market garden and cafe has been a dream for owner of Woollahra Homestead, Hayley Deans. PHOTO: Supplied

When Hayley Deans noticed a property up in Kybong for sale three years ago, she and her husband excitedly bought it.

Both born and bred in Yandina, the couple was feeling the encroaching population of Brisbane onto the Sunshine Coast and decided to find a bit more space to follow their dream.

That dream became reality when they created Woollahra Homestead.

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Their excitement transformed the property into lush green hills surrounding a sparkling dam, and a market garden where they could host weddings and campers, and show off their farm animals.

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Overlooking the dam at Woollahra Homestead in Kybong. PHOTO: Supplied

“We’ve done everything from scratch. We want the space for community, for families. Plenty of space for kids to run around and animals and space for picnic,” Mrs Deans said.

They can also provide and practise regenerative farming methods for growing organic, healthy, fresh food as an alternative to store-bought, chemically-treated fruit and vegetables, and commercially farmed beef.

Fresh produce, grown and harvested at Woollahra Homestead in Kybong. PHOTO: Supplied

“We are trying to build sustainable farming because I feel it's the way of the future. It’s about understanding where our food comes from and how our foods grows, and the importance of maintaining the soil,” she said. 

Now they have big plans for the place and are looking forward to providing space, an experience, a venue, a cafe and a market shop full of freshly-harvested produce from their garden and supplied to the Kybong community.

“We’re doing a paddock kitchen, it overlooks the market gardens and you can see the dam below which is just a really lovely outlook,” Mrs Deans said.

“We are hoping it will be finished by August 2023, if the materials come in on time.

“We plan on doing workshops for the kids on growing food, horticulture, possibly cooking classes.”

Market garden at Woollahra Homestead Hayley Deans and her family built from scratch. They are looking to sell the harvested produce in the cafe and farm shop that is hoping to be finished by August 2023. PHOTO: Supplied

Mrs Deans, a builder by trade, is the designer behind the operation, and behind her is a family of qualified chefs, farmers, engineers and kids who love getting their hands into the garden.

“I've got two kids and a husband, we just want our kids to sort of grow up in that environment instead of the digital technology world,” she added.