When Heidi Goyder-Whicker recently walked past the tradesmen who have spent the past three years restoring her historic property near Woodside, she noticed them all laughing.

“I said, ‘What are you laughing at?’ and they replied, ‘we’ve decided we are going to call this place Hotel California, because you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’,” jokes Heidi, referencing the famous song by The Eagles. “The tradies have all been here for so long now and they really have become like family. We are very lucky to have them.”

The sale occurred just post-Covid, when builders and building materials were hard to secure and knowing how extensive the renovation project would be, Heidi leapt into action.

“I found a team and I said, ‘how can I get you exclusively?’ and I basically guaranteed them two years of work,” she says. “We are now more than three years down the track and they’re still here. We are very lucky to have them. They are a dynamic team.”

Scottsburn Lodge, which was built in 1850, was on the market in 2019, but it was withdrawn following the Cudlee Creek bushfires later that year. It wasn’t touched by the fire, but other landmarks on the property were damaged.

Heidi is planning a big family Christmas at Scottsburn Lodge, with the tree taking pride of place in the entry hall.

“A 120-year-old hedge partly burnt down in the fires and so did horse stables near the house,” Heidi explains. “Then the property came back on the market, and we drove out here, and there was a whole heap of cars pulling in and I said to Leigh, ‘I think we’ve got Buckley’s chance here’.

“When we first drove up the long driveway, I asked Leigh to stop the car and I took a photo. It was just so beautiful, with all the trees. I grew up in an old house and it was beautiful. So, I have an affinity with old things that don’t match. I just knew we had to make this happen.”

While there were many interested parties, most of them walked away at the open inspection, overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to bring Scottsburn Lodge back to its former glory.

But Heidi and Leigh, the son of former SANFL chief executive Leigh Snr, were unfazed: they had renovated numerous properties and were confident about taking on the project.

The family, including Ellie, 23, Annabelle, 20, and Angus, 12, have a family house in Adelaide, but Heidi says an escape to the country was always the aim, particularly because she grew up on a sheep and cropping farm, north of Perth.

While Leigh was raised in the Adelaide suburbs, he has always had an affinity for the country lifestyle, Heidi explains.

“His mother, Lynnette, comes from a farming family in Western Australia and, as a child, he would spend the school holidays on the farm. He then went on to study both agriculture and engineering,” Heidi says.

The couple met in 1998 in WA when Leigh ended up working on Heidi’s mother’s family farm, but they didn’t get together until many years later.

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The lounge room with couch by Living By Design and artwork by Marisha Matthews.

They moved to South Australia in 2015 and Leigh now works in space, defence and energy, Heidi says.

“We couldn’t commit to a real farm, because Leigh’s got a main job in the city, so we can’t be farmers full time,” Heidi says. “But we wanted to have something that we can escape to and do our own thing. And it had to be a certain proximity to the city so Leigh could keep working. This place was perfect.”

But not everybody could see the appeal of Scottsburn Lodge which Heidi says had “floorboards that bounced like a trampoline, crumbling ceilings, massive cracks everywhere and bats” when they first saw it.

“Everyone was saying, ‘you are mad, you’re crazy’,” Heidi says. “My mum walked in here and nearly cried – just at the size of the job ahead. We had seven bathrooms, but only one worked.

“But sometimes in life you just know that you’ve got to throw everything and the kitchen sink at something to get it done.”

Heidi has taken the lead with the massive restoration project, which has encompassed the entire 1000 square metres of living space (including verandahs) of the historic home. The works began with the basics – new plumbing, wiring, footings, stonework and roofing.

“We haven’t changed the footprint at all, the brief here was always to restore not renovate,” Heidi says. “We spent the best part of 20 weeks to do the replumbing. We did five weeks of underpinning, then the stonework to fix all the cracks, while at the same time doing the new roof, which took 16 weeks. The cheapest part was buying the house, then things start to add up.

“But I see us as custodians of a house like this. It’s been here for 170 years, and it needs to be here for another 170 and beyond, so it’s important you do these things properly.”

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Another job involved restoring 16 chimneys, fixing most and decommissioning a few.

Heidi and Leigh love to entertain and the formal dining room/lounge has beautiful views of the property.

But for Heidi, restoring this historic home has not just been about stabilising bricks and choosing beautiful interiors – she is invested in the personal stories that have unfolded in these rooms, of days gone by before the walls began to crack, the floorboards creaked and the paint peeled.

“So, you walk into the local post office and the lady, who I think has been there for 29 years, says, ‘I remember when they had garden parties at your home, when I was a young girl’,” Heidi explains. “And there’s another lady I came across at the florist who said, ‘Mum and Dad took me there for an event and I got to wear a new pair of lace gloves’.

“Then someone else said that they had their first kiss on the steps here. They even used to start a fox and hound hunt from here. The history and the stories are so interesting, and they have shaped life here.”

The enormous and luxurious master suite features a chair from Verandah Homewares in Perth, and light from Lydie Du Bray Antiques in Bowral.

Over the years, Scottsburn Lodge has undergone various alterations, including a new wing added in the 1900s, then another in the 1920s, which extended the house from just a cottage.

There have been various owners over the years, too, some of them high profile wine families, and Heidi says the last time any major renovation was done was in the 1980s.

“That’s when it was bought by the Allen family, who then turned it into a restaurant. It had the blush pink carpet and wallpaper, so it was ‘Scottsburn Lodge fine dining’ or something like that,” she says.

“I know about that because my mother-in-law Lynnette came up here for a 40^th birthday party years ago at the restaurant and she said it was beautiful, especially the garden. We also found out that Captain Mark Phillips (formerly Princess Anne’s husband) stayed here several times during that period.”

One of the home’s many beautiful bespoke bedheads, this one in Annabelle’s bedroom featuring GP & J Baker fabric “Hydrangea Bird”.

One other family owned the property before the Whicker family took ownership, moving in and living in the home during the restoration process.

Heidi cooked outside on a barbecue for five months and used a microwave that was plugged into a generator. The children all slept in the large billiard room which was divided into three zones by using towers of carboard boxes piled up on the pool table – they lived like that for 10 months.

The tradesmen, including Rick, Dave and Mark from MLM Electrics and stonemason Tony, simply began at one end of the house – and then worked room by room until the restoration was complete – all under the direction of Heidi.

Today, Scottsburn Lodge stands proudly once again as a grand country homestead. From the vast entry hall to the wing of bedrooms, the state-of-the-art kitchen to the sumptuous lounge/dining room which overlooks the front garden and tennis court – every detail has been considered.

The enormous master suite occupies its own wing and nearby is Heidi’s office/snug, its all-white interiors broken up by a wall of stylish blue wallpaper (“Bird and Thistle” by Brunschwig & Fils).

Heidi, who took charge of all interior decisions, has a love of wallpaper and opted for a unique design in the guest bathroom, too (“The Battle of Valmy” by Brunschwig & Fils).

The contemporary choices add colourful pops of Heidi’s personality to the mostly neutral palette of Scottsburn Lodge, where antiques and family heirlooms sit comfortably alongside more modern pieces.

“I’m a bit of an antiques lover,” she says, adding that one of her favourite go-to stores is Lydie du Bray Antiques in NSW, although she often scours local markets and antique stores in Adelaide, too.

A photo of George Goyder who was the son of Heidi’s great-great-great grandfather George Woodroffe Goyder, the former South Australian Surveyor-General.

Her style, she says, is simply to “buy what I like and if it works it works, otherwise Leigh and the kids think I’m a bit crazy”.

“It’s just my style and as I’ve gotten older, I don’t care if it works or not because I like it. Leigh was a bit perturbed that I turned his armchair into leopard print, though.”

Off the long hallway is the enormous billiard room where even the original pool table has been meticulously restored. It is in this space that one now sees glimpses of Heidi’s heritage, and her remarkable connection to South Australia.

Her great-great-great grandfather was the famous Surveyor-General, George Woodroffe Goyder, who mapped what came to be known as Goyder’s Line, which roughly runs east-west across South Australia and became a guide for farmers around reliable annual rainfall for cropping. A black and white photograph of Goyder hangs in the billiard room.

“Because he was a surveyor, I would love to think there is some close connection here, because I know he surveyed part of the Onkaparinga Valley and it would be so cool to think he came up and surveyed this land,” says Heidi.

Another wing of this stunning home contains four beautifully restored bedrooms, all with luxurious ensuites featuring white marble. The kitchen makeover has created a large, open plan space with informal dining. It is simple and stylish in white, with highlights of green artworks and kitchenware.

It’s hard to believe this modern, spacious kitchen, which was designed by Heidi, had sinking floorboards and a ceiling that was caving in when the renovations began.

The kitchen was the only internal space where floorboards had to be replaced, as well as outside on the front verandah. “This is my little bit of WA,” Heidi says showing off the Manjimup jarrah boards that were used to create the large verandah.

“In summer we sit out here and we can look out onto the tennis court and put the lights on, and we can see the garden,” she says. “It’s so relaxing.”

With the main residence now complete, Heidi will turn her attention to the different dwellings on the property, including the shearers’ quarters, built in 1920, which she is keen to reinvent as guest rooms, with a courtyard and firepit.

“Just for friends and family,” she says. “Leigh always says, ‘this is our home’, so we are happy to share it, but not for any commercial ventures.”

The guest powder room showcases a quirky pop of colour with “The Battle of Valmy” wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils. 

The couple loves to entertain and hosts a bonfire each winter and, last year, hosted the Prince Alfred College end of year Christmas drinks in the garden, welcoming 150 guests – just as it once did in times past.

While they have a part-time gardener to handle the upkeep, Heidi has planned and planted much of the new landscaping, including 90 trees along the one-kilometre-long driveway.

However, in recent months, Heidi admits she has slowed down a bit, revealing to SALIFE that a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis a year ago has come as a shock.

“Normally, I am go, go, go, but in last few months I must admit I have slowed down,” she says.

Amazingly, with all this going on, Heidi is still focused on new goals, explaining that her diagnosis has prompted plans to host charity events at Scottsburn Lodge next year.

She is keen to share her beautiful home and garden with charities that now have more meaning than ever.

“I’ve already spoken to people at the MS Society,” she says. “And Leigh and I have talked about events for the Royal Flying Doctors, Save the Children, Red Cross, those sorts of things. Fundraisers for meaningful and important causes.

“Besides, we can’t be selfish and keep this place all to ourselves. It was meant to be shared.”

The white and neutral palette of Heidi’s office/snug is broken up with the striking “Bird and Thistle” wallpaper, also by Brunschwig & Fils.

For now, with the Christmas season approaching, the family is happy to enjoy their beautifully restored home, which is once again full of life, laughter and love.

“Leigh loves that he can enjoy his first passion which is farming and he’s so happy pottering around up here,” Heidi says.

“We’ve got a Suffolk stud set up, not quite 100 sheep, and Leigh is keen to get that going, which will take years.

“But whatever your outlet might be, painting, walking, yoga, a country home, it’s lovely to just forget about other things. Up here, we feel as if we can just switch off and enjoy this special place that will be ours for just a blip of time.”

This article first appeared in the December 2024 issue of SALIFE magazine.