Winemaking couple build their unborn baby a mini cellar door cubby in their vineyards – complete with a fridge, a chic deck and a tiny espresso machine
- Elise Cook, 29, and her husband Domenic Palumbo, 30, are expecting a child
- The hardworking couple live and work at their cellar door, Down The Rabbit Hole
- They built their baby a mini cubby house that looks like their coffee hut on site
- It features a mini fridge and cabinetry to hold a wooden coffee table and pizza
- The pair have five months remaining before they get to meet their little one
A winemaking couple have built their unborn child a miniature ‘cellar door’ cubby in the vineyards while in isolation, complete with a fridge, groceries and espresso machine.
Elise Cook, 29, and her husband Domenic Palumbo, 30, announced they were expecting a baby on April 8, after years of travelling around Australia in a Kombi van and building their winery, Down The Rabbit Hole.
The South Australia-based pair debuted the white and peach painted cubby house on Instagram alongside videos of themselves cutting the timber down to size, painting it, and assembling the roof and walls.
A winemaking couple have built their unborn child a miniature cellar door in the vineyards while in isolation, complete with a fridge, groceries and espresso machine
Elise Cook, 29, and her husband Domenic Palumbo, 30, announced they were expecting a baby on April 8 (left), after years of travelling around Australia in a Kombi van and building their winery, Down The Rabbit Hole
‘Okay bambino we built you a mini cellar door out the back too,’ Elise wrote on social media on April 30. ‘We are going to have some fun in this life of yours.’
‘For now it’s keeping me very entertained (just a bit excited about ALL the mini things) and will do the same for all the kids that visit next spring and summer – or whenever we’re able to welcome people back onto our land.’
The cubby house features a farm gate-style entryway and four windows to look out onto the surrounding vegetable patch and garden.
The cubby house features a farm gate-style entryway and two windows to look out onto the surrounding vegetable patch and garden
Inside Elise has placed a children’s play fridge, a kitchen sink and bench for their child to make food on, with an assortment of supermarket ingredients to cut and dice
Domenic (pictured) helped assemble the frame and build a front garden for the cubby house
Inside Elise has placed a children’s play fridge, a kitchen sink and bench for their child to make food on, with an assortment of supermarket ingredients to cut and dice.
All of the play equipment – including a saucepan and coffee machine – is made of lacquered wood so there is no fear of injury in the tiny hut.
As a result of the coronavirus Down The Rabbit Hole is no longer able to cater for guests on the McLaren Vale grounds, and the couple are only able to sell their drops of wine online.
While this has certainly caused undue stress for a number of small businesses, Elise and Domenic are making the most of the situation by nesting at home, preparing for their baby due in five months.
As a result of the coronavirus, Down The Rabbit Hole is no longer able to cater for guests on the McLaren Vale grounds, and the couple are only able to sell their drops of wine online
They renovated their house, which is on the winery, themselves and curated their own cellar door, which opened in springtime last year
While they don’t know how long their doors will have to remain closed to the public, they’re excited to welcome people back onto picnic rugs to drink wine and listen to local artists soon
The pair are best known for taking their kombi van ‘Scout’ across Australia two years ago – posting about their travels on Instagram – and inspiring others to live a more simple life.
They renovated their house, which is on the winery, themselves in 2018 and curated their own cellar door, which opened in springtime last year.
It has its own coffee shed that looks remarkably similar to their child’s new cubby house.
While they don’t know how long their doors will have to remain closed to the public, they’re excited to welcome people back onto picnic rugs to drink wine and listen to local artists soon.