Iremonger Gary and Leonie
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Gary and Leonie Iremonger are the proprietors of the Eagle Foundry Bed and Breakfast.
Gary was a valuable member of the Gawler 175 Events Community Reference Group.
Jackie Law-Smith, Gary Iremonger, and Leonie Iremonger won an Australia Day award for "Best Community Event" for 2007's 'Gawler Gourmet and Heritage Festival'.
Gary and Leonie and the Eagle Foundry B&B are strong supporters and regular Sponsors of the Gawler History Team, which we appreciate.
Gary & Leonie Iremonger - Eagle Foundry B&B Gawler
Gary Iremonger was born in Prospect South Australia and grew up around the Enfield area in the early days and then in the teenage years the Modbury area.
Leonie Iremonger was born in Woodville South Australia and grew up around the Port Adelaide area and even lived in the south east of South Australia for a short time.
Gary and Leonie met at around the age of 18 and a year after going out together they purchased a caravan. When Gary finished his apprenticeship at the age of 22 they travelled around Australia working in various locations around the country.
They married in Mackay in Queensland and had their first child (Kimberly) in the Northern Territory. They then travelled back to Adelaide and purchased their first home in Salisbury North in South Australia. Around this time their second child (Veronica) was born.
After a few years they purchased a 10 acre block of land at Gawler Belt where they built a new 4 bedroom home and lived there for around 17 years. Gary was working as a mechanic at the SA Fire Brigade and then later as a technical representative for various sales firms and Leonie was working at Australia Post as a Postal Services Officer.
In 2002 they sold the home at Gawler Belt and moved into a 2 bedroom cottage in Jacob Street in Gawler. After around 6 months living in Jacob Street they purchased the Eagle Foundry B&B with the help of their daughter Kimberly. The business was run as a part time business as it was not making enough money to give anyone a full time job, so each of the team had their own full time occupations.
After a year it became apparent that travellers wanted more than a suite in a B&B to stay in. People wanted to bring their families with them when they travelled and so the Iremonger’s purchased old run down properties and tidied them up for rental to prospective guests.
After around 5 years in the business Gary and Leonie brought the business interest from Kimberly. Around 2008 when the global financial crisis hit Australia, business in the firm where Gary worked was getting slow. Gary offered to take a redundancy and started to concentrate on running the Eagle Foundry B&B full time. Other properties were purchased and slowly the portfolio increased.
Around 2 years after Gary gave up work to concentrate on the business, Leonie also gave up full time work and assisted in the operation of the Eagle Foundry B&B business.
Gary & Leonie became members of the National Trust in Gawler in 2002 and Gary is a current representative on the Gawler Business Development Board. Gary and Leonie obtained an award as Gawler’s Corporate Citizens of the Year for 2016
In 2018 two new suites were added to the existing suites at the Eagle Foundry B&B and in 2019 an upgrade to the bathroom of the smaller suite gave extra room for guests to enjoy. Ongoing maintenance at the old places in Gawler and at the Eagle Foundry B&B is always an issue and upgrades and maintenance work is costly and never ending.
In 2019 the Eagle Foundry B&B was recognized by Star Ratings Australia as the best accommodation in the state of South Australia in the category of self-catering. The award is based on feedback from guests that have stayed at the property and rated the accommodation.
Please <click here> to view photos of Gary and Leonie Iremonger.
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