Wonky Windmill tourist attraction up for sale

Set in the heart of the West Australian south-west and complete with a perfectly good windmill made wonky to reflect its name, the Wonky Windmill Farm and Eco Park has been listed for sale.

The loved tourist attraction, which is located in Yelverton near the popular Dunsborough and Margaret River holiday spots, was the brainchild of the late Kerry Clarke and his wife Bev who saw a need for family activities in the region.

The couple bought the 80ha Yelverton property in the early 1980s and set up a farm stay business before they subdivided the land 10 years ago, keeping 52.6 hectares which became the iconic Wonky Windmill Farm petting zoo.

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The idea quickly forged into a family business, drawing in daughter and son-in-law Michelle and Russell Fleming and son Ian Clarke – along with a throng of feathered and furry friends and diverse animal life.

“My dad was the ideas man, the man on the ground,” Michelle Fleming says.

“He saw a need for a family tourist destination so set about developing the property into one of the south-west’s most popular and loved tourist destinations.”

The Wonky Windmill farmhouse.

After planting an orchard and olive grove, the family added a variety of farm animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, lambs, goats, sheep, two emus called Elsie and Eloise, Maudie and Toppy the resident ponies and deer Katie and Abby.

Add to the family a pig, an ostrich, chickens, ducks, geese and kangaroos and it’s a full house.

The property, which will be sold as a going concern, includes three homes and a fourth building, which is used as a café and shop where they sell souvenirs including homemade jams, pickles and produce made on-site.

“After a few wines we came up with the name Wonky Windmill Farm but we didn’t have a windmill so now we’ve got a very expensive windmill that’s been made wonky on purpose,” Fleming says.

The café includes a commercial kitchen.

“It was all in pieces so we got an engineer to put it back together – on a lean.”

She says while the business largely operates as farm petting zoo, there was potential for it to grow beyond its current enterprise mix.

“The business is good, but there’s always room for other things. We were always going to add mini golf but never got around to it,” she says.

“We also do orchard tours twice a day when the fruit is in season from April to December and that really draws in the Singaporean and Malaysian tourists, which is a big drawcard.

Wonky Windmill Farm and Eco Park sits on a 52ha site.

“Then we have a café where we do all homemade food. We started with scones to showcase the jams that we make and gradually it’s grown. We make all the jams and preserves and we also have an olive grove so we do oil and olives too.”

Fleming says the family has decided to sell as they are “starting to move towards a more relaxed lifestyle” before retirement.

The site includes farm sheds, 12 small paddocks, holding yards and enclosures for the small animals, as well as an established orchard and olive grove.

One of the on-site homes is a four bedroom, two bathroom house with a study, while the other two properties have two bathrooms and two bedrooms.

The Wonky Windmill Farm and Eco Park has been listed for sale for $2.4 million (PSAV).