Dream House - Bluestone Estate in the Western District

Our recent holiday necessitated a lovely drive west of Melbourne for many hours until we got to the South Australian border. This means you drive through rich green dairy and cattle country, low rise blue stone fences (built by convicts), little towns with names like Hexham and Moriac, and occasionally, down a long drive way, you can catch a glimpe of a house like this:

This house. Leslie Manor, near Colac, was built in 1845 by Scotsman John Hastie. It has been renovated and comes complete with 18 foot ceilings, herb garden, friendly hens and lots of eggs, separate 4 bedroom manager's cottage, harness room and 183 hectares of verdant arable land:

Divine little bluestone shed for the lawnmower:

Access to two lakes:

And this green view when you are washing up, or preparing hearty country meals or just staring and daydreaming (or in my case given my slight country-0-phobia, mixing the first martini of the day at 10 am):

All this, just 2 hours from Melbourne, and yours for (price undisclosed) but I would be guessing about $6 million. But that is just a stab in the dark. If you are in the market check out their website. The auction is this Sunday!

One thing you can be certain about - there are no bright white or dark black floorboards in this house. No chandeliers in the kitchen. No quirky mix of mid century furniture and ultra modern Italian fittings. No walk in wardrobes. No mosaic tiles. Just country goodness.

I haven't shown the interior shots because although it has been renovated, in my view it would need some more work, but probably just superficial (soft not hard!).

I have previously written about my fear of being trapped forever in the countryside. But I could make an exception for this house.


(Images: Leslie Manor Homestead)

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