INVESTED IN PINGRUP
Mardi Stanich’s renovation tale is a story of strong women shifting attitudes, one of commitment to her family of six and the business partnership she shares with her husband Ben. It’s also a story of dedication to their family history and the beautiful Pingrup community.
THE STANICH HOMESTEAD
Just like many farming homesteads, Mardi and Ben Stanich’s farmhouse close to the townsite of Pingrup in Wheatbelt WA, stands as a place where family, business and community converge. The Pingrup townsite, close by to the Stanich Homestead is in the Great Southern Wheatbelt region of WA. An area famous for Pingrup Lake, Pingrup Races, merino sheep, wheat and cereal crop production, as well as a passionate community.
The Stanich farm is a cherished family legacy dating back to Ben's grandparents' migration to the area in 1963 - further strengthening and developing the land, presented its own set of challenges for Mardi and Ben. From navigating occupational health and safety regulations to mastering the intricacies of generational sustainability, and financial management, Mardi and Ben face each obstacle head-on, recognising the paramount importance of ensuring all elements of their business are meticulously attended to.
Their farm, spanning over 9,000 hectares, has a diverse range of operations aimed at enhancing profitability and ongoing sustainability for future generation. The introduction of a sheep feedlot in 2019 was a strategic move, providing an additional stream of income independent of cropping, while complementing their existing operations.
MARDI
Mardi’s day-to-day routine covers many responsibilities - primarily, business partnership roles with her husband Ben, juggling family demands, managing the household (bearing in mind there is limited or no access to gardening, childcare, or cleaning services) and managing numerous volunteering roles in the local Pingrup community.
Mardi credits her childhood in Varley - another Wheatbelt town in WA - for fostering her deep-rooted connection to the land and a passion for agriculture. This was a contributing factor in her decision to pivot from nursing to a career in the business management side of their farming enterprise. Mardi’s pivot was not without its challenges, however she explains it as a natural progression rooted in partnership and collaboration, leveraging collective strengths with Ben to propel their business forward.
“I’m often faced with the regular assumption that I don’t actually work,” Mardi says, referring to people outside of their community. “I see this as just one of the many prejudices stemming from the many corrosive stereotypes depicting regional women as scone-baking idle women, sitting around drinking cups of tea together. Certainly not the life we are living.”
Innovative strategies permeate every facet of their farming operations, as Mardi and Ben constantly seek new ways to try and maximise profitability and sustainability with ethical practices. Yet, amidst their endeavours, Mardi remains deeply entrenched in her community, juggling various volunteer roles to contribute to local resources and causes on offer to local families.
Mardi’s volunteering commitment includes serving as a Treasurer for the local P&C, as the Secretary for Ongerup Women In Farming, and as a Committee Member for Pingrup CRC. To add to this already significant volunteering contribution, Mardi aims to train to become a volunteer ambulance officer to help serve her community in the face of limited access to ambulance services. Just some of the many unpaid and under recognised roles Mardi and other regional women play in shaping vibrant, well-resourced regional communities.
Mardi’s depth of achievement, contributing to business, home and community is difficult to overlook when speaking to her about her daily life. Yet, despite her significant contribution, home life and community volunteering are often considered as much the same as farming partnerships like the one she has with Ben - not always recognised or valued.
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THE DECISION TO RENOVATE
The meticulous approach Mardi and Ben have to farming extends to their attitude about the renovation of their homestead. Deciding to plan in detail, the best option to upgrade their homestead and lifestyle was a key contributor to the success of the project (an image of their kitchen prior to renovating shown here).
Ben and Mardi recognise that upgrading and maintaining their homestead not only improves their family and business lifestyle; it also demonstrates further commitment to the roots they have in Pingrup and their local community.
This attitude to upgrading their homestead shakes off the outdated shackles of the potential tall poppy judgements hindering many of those dreaming of renovations or builds across regional Australia, to remedy frustratingly dysfunctional lifestyle outcomes.
Post renovation they now have spaces that streamline their lifestyle, servicing their evolving family needs, business operations and social connections with community, as well as volunteering contributions, while reflecting their own personal style. Something they say, has markedly improved their day-to-day living. Despite the initial hurdles they faced in farming business and pre-renovation living, their dedication to agriculture and community has propelled their homestead and lifestyle forward with great results for their family.
THE PROCESS OF RENOVATING
Mardi and Ben embraced the renovation process wholeheartedly. Mardi drew inspiration from years of collecting design ideas, brainstorming with Ben and developing thoughts on what they wanted to achieve. Mardi reached out to Tess and her team at Minted Elevated Living for support to design a thoughtful and well planned renovation, ensuring the best possible outcome.
“From the very first response from Tess, I knew that involving Minted was going to ensure we achieved a space we loved, eliminating regrets. We worked with Tess and her team completely remotely. I’m not sure if my confidence in working remotely for this project can be attributed to the trust she immediately inspired, or our own familiarity using other remote services for our farming business. Perhaps it was a combination of both.”
“Now we have completed the renovation, I’m so glad I trusted the remote process, as engaging Tess and her Minted team was the best decision we made throughout the entire renovation.” Mardi commented when asked what made her reach out to Tess.
Throughout the collaborative design process, Mardi worked with Tess to decide on each renovation design choice and material element. The decision making stage of Minted’s design planning is streamlined with to-scale photo realistic visuals of each of their proposed spaces (based on a hand drawn floor plan with measurements Mardi took herself), along with a clear set of material specifications. Each design recommendation, material and product selection is thoughtfully curated by Tess and her team to elevate functionality and liveability, while achieving Ben and Mardi’s preferred style.
Achieving the ultimate lifestyle goals of clients by creating the perfect balance of personal style and functionality, has become a hallmark of all Minted renovations, builds and landscapes. Achieving this perfect balance for each client is referred to as ‘elevated living’ by Tess and her team, something Tess says is an integral objective of all Minted Elevated Living projects. .
“Tess’ design process fully respected our lifestyle goals and budget. Anyone can be presented with an amazing concept that has all the bells and whistles, but the reality is, this may not be achievable within budget. Minted prioritised and created realistic concepts, allowing us to fall in love with spaces we could achieve. Not once did they question our choices, but instead offered advice and ideas of how we could achieve the best outcome within our budget. I can’t recommend Tess and her team highly enough. Plus, they’re great people- so the journey was fun- WIN-WIN!”, said Mardi.
THE RESULTS
The Stanich’s updated post-renovation spaces provide dedicated areas to host meetings and enact the consistent administration of all of the business and volunteer roles that both Mardi and Ben work in day-to-day.
The most significant transformation is the kitchen, delivering an expansion of space without a physical extension to the footprint/roofline of the house. This was achieved by removing a wall to connect two spaces, delivering major lifestyle wins for their big family.
The varied floor and ceiling levels between each space presented a challenge, however Tess’ experience designing renovations for heritage and farming homesteads enabled her to create a efficient zoning plan seamlessly integrating the lower level as the food store, coffee prep and shed entry area of the kitchen, facilitating function and flow.
Likewise, the laundry renovation incorporates design solutions concealing the chaos of daily life behind closed doors of savvy cabinetry design, offering a sense of order and tranquillity amidst the whirlwind of family activities.
“Tess and her team came to us with so many design ideas that we wouldn’t have even considered/thought of if we hadn’t engaged them. They are so thorough and approachable that I felt completely at ease when working with them.” Mardi says, reflecting on her experience.
Mardi’s advice to others embarking on a similar journey,
“Don’t get cold feet and think you should go for the more "timeless" option. You’ll regret it- the most timeless option is the one that you love! At the end of the day, you’re the one living there - if you love it, goal kicked!”.
This sentiment is most vividly embraced in Mardi’s renovation by the statement veranda tiles supplied via Minted, selected from the ‘Minted Elevated Living Signature Collection’.
Mardi’s emerald green kitchen tiles emulate striking jewels, while the stunning Moroccan mosaic laundry tiles, the herringbone Morrocan handmade floor tiles used throughout and the colourful verandah tiles, deliver a highly personal, artisan and uniquly interesting design punch. This particular focus on detail and material selection has resulted in a highly meaningful result for Mardi and her family.
By working with Tess and the Minted team, Mardi and Ben were able to make informed decisions on design, materials and functionality elements of the proposed spaces they planned to renovate ahead of time; while problem solving material ordering with Minted’s trusted suppliers, with budget, availability and structure constraints in mind.
All of the tiles used in the Stanich renovation were selected from the Minted Elevated Living Signature Collection, which also includes bespoke furniture, decor, tap ware and artwork. Tess and her team have spent many years curating a collection of stunning bespoke finishes from trusted suppliers to give regional people access to highly unique finishes elevated their renovation, landscaping and new build results, regardless of how remote their property is.
The combination of world class design documentation, supply of unique bespoke Minted finishes and Tess’ on call construction consulting, allowed Mardi and Ben to juggle their busy lives, with complete confidence throughout the project.
The Stanich homestead is now a functional and beautiful farming homestead, set to serve yet another generation of family and community, who love Pingrup and their extended region.
A NOTE FROM TESS
“Mardi’s enduring spirit and her commitment to contributing to resilient, thriving business and community, are aspirational and also common attributes of many regional women. Mardi’s strength to take this further by investing in her homestead renovation demonstrates a celebration of the life she and Ben have created with their four children, while cherishing and celebrating their historical family roots. Families like theirs are breaking down outdated ideas hindering homestead spend, instead showing that their investment highlights their dedication to the Pingrup community, family history and business operations, as committed primary producers.
Our regional existence relies on the WA agricultural sector and local economies. Investing in improved lifestyles and businesses, highlights rural areas as beautiful and vibrant places to live, with confident communities who have faith in the future strength of these regions. This in turn attracts tourism and much needed workers and families, who underpin our economies and labour force for seasonal efforts.
Growing up in different wheatbelt towns, I saw the incredible sense of community and enjoyment of lifestyle for those communities investing in and celebrating their local areas. In contrast, I’ve also witnessed the struggles of many women doing their best with sub standard housing, no access to strong community resources, or recognition that the homestead plays a critical role in farming and family operations.
We are now seeing a ground surge of strong women like Mardi who are valuing their area, lifestyle, business, community and family enough to invest in updating their homes and businesses. They are savvy and understand the profound contribution their well-designed spaces make to not only their lifestyle but also to their entire communities.
This shift in thinking continues to liberate families to thoroughly enjoy their regional lifestyles. Women like Mardi, their families and surrounding communities deserve places of community connection, efficient business operations and improved opportunities for day-to-day living and family time.
The regions, regional business, regional families and particularly regional women have been overlooked in so many ways for too long - made to feel guilty about investing in their homes or not having access to professional business design services, despite the huge benefits for our regional economies, businesses and communities. Minted Elevated Living’s work with regional families and businesses to achieve their goals is a privilege and something we are incredibly passionate about.”
Tess Beagley
Founder & Director, Minted Elevated Living
Interior Design - Minted Elevated Living
Tiles - Minted Elevated Living Hard Finish Collection
Photography @nakitamareephotography
Squibb Cabinetry & Cabinets Katanning - cabinetry and build
DHU South Electrical
Prowest Plumbing and Gas Albany
Steve Shan Painting Albany
Exterior stone installation J Kerr Construction