Sheep, shiraz and serenity: Modern homestead and grazing farm near Heathcote could be yours
An architect-designed country home and its sheep grazing farm offering a front-row seat to a famous Victorian wine region have been listed for sale.
At the end of a long driveway, you’ll find exceptionally private property known as Lyndhurst, which spans two equally proportioned titles, at 105 and 205 Taylors Lane, Glenhope, just 20 minutes from the shiraz grapes grown in Heathcote and 1.5 hours from the conveniences of CBD life.
Built in 2008, the uniquely-shaped semicircular home is a modern take on the old-fashioned Aussie homestead, designed by Brunswick-based JOH Architects.
The four-bedroom home boasts natural features, including rammed earth and reclaimed timbers, with an abundance of natural light that pours through high clerestory windows, and a design that lends itself to hosting guests in their own wing.
The 113.3-hectare property is dotted with thousands of trees planted by the owners over the past 25 years, cultivating their sanctuary from a blank canvas to offer shade and wind protection for the humans and sheep who call it home.
The gardens are striking yet low-maintenance and sympathetic to the green pastures, and they include a vegetable garden, fruit trees and an olive grove.
From a farming perspective, it’s well-equipped with a current carrying capacity of 360 ewes, producing 500 lambs on average. There are 12 paddocks, six dams and a bore, plus a two-stand shearing shed with steel yards, which can hold 500 sheep undercover. It also includes two 15-tonne silos, a hay and machinery shed.
The property, listed with Tom May at Jellis Craig Woodend, Castlemaine and Daylesford, comes with a price guide of $3.6 million to $3.9 million.
May says the family owners have put a lot of thought and care into their approach, seeking good advice and using high-quality fencing and fertiliser.
Lyndhurst’s two titles each cover 56.6 hectares, allowing buyers to either purchase the entire property or split it; however, it is preferred that the property is sold as a whole.
The site at 105 Taylors Lane includes the shearing shed, three dams, and seven paddocks, while 205 Taylors Lane boasts the homestead and remaining infrastructure.
“It has absolutely been done to a high level of quality,” says May.
“Everything’s been very considered with their farming approach and they have sought a lot of good advice as well.”
May notes that the spine of the much-loved family home, a rammed-earth wall, provides it with a thermal mass.
Walking in through the daffodil-lined entrance, he describes the scene as beautiful, with a big stone fireplace in the living space looking out to undulating pastures in the north.
“You enter through the front, and then you’ve got three wings. You’ve got the living area, then [either side] is a bedroom wing … proportions are very consistent with big rooms.
“You can tell, it’s just been a great family home.”
The property is being sold via an expression of interest campaign closing at 5pm on October 21.
