It started with 4,000 sheep.
Ed and Sylvia purchased Merrilands in 1952, bringing their flock with them from Edenhope. A bout of footrot soon prompted a change of plans, and the farm moved into fat lambs.
The Shearing Shed was exactly that, a working shearing shed, where some 4,000 sheep were shorn and plenty of local lads earned their keep as contracted shearers.
At smoko, Sylvia would arrive with a four-litre kettle of boiled water in one hand and a sponge cake in the other. Her approach was announced by calls of “ducks on the pond”, the signal that a lady was present and the language ought to improve accordingly.
We suspect it worked. Temporarily.
Many of those local shearers have stories of their own, and we love that a building now filled with wedding speeches, music and celebrations has already lived quite a life before us.
From sheep to campsites.
By the early 1980s, Ed had decided farming life was no longer for him. For a time, the Shearing Shed was leased to family friends who kept Angora goats, while the property entered its next generation.
Ed and Sylvia's son Greg, and his wife Lyn, purchased Merrilands in 1982. Greg had previously owned and operated Amaroo Caravan Park in Cowes, so when major motorsport events brought growing crowds to Phillip Island, accommodation was familiar territory.
In 1989, Merrilands was registered as Gap Road Campsite, helping accommodate the influx of visitors coming to the Island for major events.
Different decade. Different crowd.
Merrilands was still bringing people through the gates.
Then we put the kitchen to work.
In 2012, the Patton family embarked on the next adventure.
A steakhouse.
After renovating and reinventing The Shearing Shed, we operated The Shearing Shed as a restaurant for three years here at Merrilands while quietly introducing it as the wedding venue you know today.
Since then, hundreds of couples have celebrated here, joined by thousands of family members and friends.
But weddings weren’t the only reason people have gathered at Merrilands.
We've hosted The Food Truck Carnival, Literary Luncheons, corporate dinners, birthday celebrations and events of all shapes and sizes.
Which got us thinking...
Three generations later.
Today, Merrilands remains in the same family.
Ed and Sylvia passed it to Greg and Lyn. Their son Scott and his wife Abbie now own and run the businesses on the property, and every now and then, you'll spot their teenage daughters lending a hand too.
Four generations have now had a hand in Merrilands.
The property looks rather different than it did in 1952, but perhaps the heart of it hasn't changed all that much.
People come through the gates.
They eat. They talk. They celebrate. They tell stories.
And then, eventually, those stories become part of Merrilands too.
So, what is Merrilands Estate?
The slightly unhelpful answer is:
It's the home of The Shearing Shed.
Soon, it'll be the home of Drovers. (Now that’s an Easter Egg if ever I saw one)
It'll play host to dinners, live music, workshops, family events, celebrations and whatever else you think deserves a place on the calendar.
We don't expect every event to be for everyone.
But we hope that somewhere amongst it all, there'll be something with your name on it.
A bit of everything.
And now?
We're writing the next chapter.
Merrilands Estate is opening its doors to more, live music, dinners, workshops, family events, celebrations and experiences that give people another reason to come together.
Some will draw on what we've always done here.
Others will be entirely new.
After more than 70 years, we've learned that this place is rather good at evolving.
We're looking forward to seeing what happens next.
