2020 Mentor Profile: Emelia Ferguson

EMELIA FERGUSON

Owner/Operator, Kimo Estate

Emelia and her husband David run the beautiful Kimo Estate, a 7000 acre working sheep and cattle farm. Emelia and Dave were keen to diversify the operations of the property and have launched Kimo Estate as a stunning events venue for people looking to tie the knot. Kim Estate has idyllic homestead gardens and a 110-year-old rustic barn perfect for wedding receptions and other events. The property is only 10 minutes from Gundagai and serves both the Wagga and Canberra regions.

As well as being a wedding venue, Kimo Estate also accommodates up to 28 people and provides various levels of accommodation for travellers or people looking for a lovely weekend get away. The first (of three) eco-huts sits proudly on the hills of Kimo Estate. Renovated workers cottages and shearers quarters provide family accommodation for those looking for a bit more space.

Emelia has been involved in the hospitality industry since her university days in Tasmania, which is also where she met David. Emelia and David moved from Noosa to Gundagai several years ago, to see if David would enjoy running the family farm, Kimo.. In 2014 David and Emelia were sitting on the verandah with David’s parents when the discussion turned to how they could add to the existing income of the farm. This is when the Kimo Estate wedding venue and accommodation idea was born.

In October 2015, after a lot of hard work, the cottages were finished and Kimo Estate was ready for it’s first wedding, which went off without a hitch. Kimo Estate expects its weddings to bring over 2000 additional people to Gundagai annually, which will contribute close to 1 million dollars to the local economy.

A recent proud moment for Emelia was when Kimo Estate was on the Nouba’s list of Australia’s best wedding venues and being named one of the top ten romantic destinations in the world by Escape.com.au. Kimo Estate is also being featured in Qantas Inflight Magazine, on the Chanel Seven Sydney Weekender program and in Australian Traveller Magazine.