Barrel Farm is one of Albany’s newest food and beverage venues and its creation was just a labour of love and very much a family affair.

Owned and operated by the Buxton family, Barrel Farm has been the decades-long dream of parents, Peter and Peg Buxton. The couple have been running a local farm and vineyard for more than 50 years but had been keeping an eye out for a location closer to Albany where they could create a cellar door outlet for their Yilgarnia Wines and serve food to complement those wines. When the family finally secured a suitable parcel of land a few years ago it was a dream come true and all hands on deck.

Situated on one of Albany’s old dairy farms, Barrel Farm is a creative blend of old and new. And, if you’re wondering where the venue’s name comes from – it represents three of the family’s favourite barrels: wine barrels, beer barrels and the barrel waves that many of the family members love to surf. 

Peter and Peg’s youngest daughter, Holly, is Barrel Farm’s venue manager and she says that during the three-year building project the entire Buxton family would gather onsite to pitch in and do what had to be done.?

“We’d come every weekend because we all had other jobs and businesses to run during the week,” Holly says.

“We’d bring our partners and kids and work as a team and we’d help with literally everything. There were timber tables to build, landscaping to be done and we’d move rocks to build the rock walls at the entrance. We also had to clean out and restore the old stone buildings as we wanted to retain the authenticity of the property. We knew that retaining the original features of the historic dairy and shearing sheds would become an integral part of the venue’s rustic charm. We are a farming family after all so we wanted the venue to reflect that.”

The family also rescued and transplanted 50 ancient olive trees from a nearby farm with a 100 percent survival rate, which is no mean feat, and these trees now adorn Barrel Farm’s driveway.

Holly says her older sister Sally took on the daunting task of project manager and Sally’s husband Mike applied his talents to making countless features in the venue including the beautiful pendant strip lights that now hang above the bar. Oh, and the bar is another example of Mike’s handiwork. And, in keeping with the design theme for the build the family sourced old jarrah timber from some of Albany’s original settlement cottages and 2000 red clinker bricks were recycled from a 100-year-old house that was due for demolition.

Holly’s husband Sam was also heavily involved and he spent many months onsite working with the carpenters to help with the build. Holly’s brother Anthony was, and still is, integral to the project as he’s Yilgarnia Wines chief viticulturalist which is a job he’s done for many years.

There was also extensive work to be done beyond the building site as the property had been neglected for many years and the surrounding paddocks were filled with unsightly weeds and the dam was choked with reeds and excessive silt.

“We wanted patrons to enjoy the views over the paddocks and rolling hills and we really wanted to encourage birdlife back to the dam so my brother and my dad spent weeks clearing out the overgrown vegetation and countless birds have already started to return,” Holly says.

Now that the venue is open Holly says the feedback from patrons has been incredibly gratifying.

Seeing tables filled with people spanning several generations must give the Buxton family an inner glow as, not only does it mirror their own family experiences, it shows they’ve achieved exactly what they set out to do.

Barrel Farm is located on South Coast Hwy, Marbelup, Albany and you can find out more at www.barrelfarm.com.au