Owners of the Millbrook heritage precinct in Yallingup were given the green light by City of Busselton councillors to use their picturesque property for wedding receptions.
The property has been in the Merifield family for 42 years during which time they have spent considerable time and money restoring the precinct.
The heritage listed site has been opened to the public for 10 years. It houses a historical water wheel driven timber mill and Dunsborough’s Seymour cottages which were saved from demolition 38 years ago.
They were the original cottages in Dunsborough, first built in the 1850’s when Castle Rock was a whaling station.
Throughout the years, the family constantly received requests from visitors to use the site for weddings and had been permitted on a strictly private and no charge basis.
Having seen many of their own family and friends wed at the property, brother and sister Brett and Letitia Merifield saw an opportunity to branch out into their own wedding reception business.
Ms Merifield said it was wonderful to be able to share the beauty of the site with people on their wedding day, and was were she wed 25 years ago.
“It is beautiful here and weddings are a beautiful occasion, the two just fit together,” she said. “The serenity and beauty here is really special, there is nothing else like it.”
The pair will establish a daytime wedding venue at the property with a ceremony and lunchtime receptions afterwards. People would also be able to use the property for a ceremony or photographs as well.
While they originally hoped to have the venue opened for longer reception times, Ms Merifield said they pleased to get the venue approved, as it had been a challenging process along the way.
Mr Merifield said he had many fond memories of the property including family gatherings around the heritage area.
“It is so unique and special, for what we want to do as a wedding venue it is in a class of its own,” he said. “When someone comes here for the first time they are quite amazed and blown away at how special it is.”
Property owner Kevin Merifield said the site was originally established in the 1920’s by the Donald family who setup a mill and constructed a creek to operate a water wheel.
Kevin said the the mill drove a circular saw and other implements to mill timber, which was cut on the property and dragged back to the mill by horse and chain.
“A lot of the timber was used for construction work, they were master builders, after Caves House burnt down in 1936 it was rebuilt by the family in 1938,” he said. “A lot of the timber was cut here including timber used for some of the railway stations in the South West and hotels in Busselton. There is a lot of history here.”
