The bluestones that built the towering walls of the now-converted Campaspe Mill were transported from a quarry near Malmsbury and laid in 1855, when construction began.
It’s been on the market for a year, waiting for prospective owners to take the plunge – to use as a country retreat, or even a commercial endeavour.
There’s so much history attached to this stunning landmark, now a six-bedroom home on 5.2 hectares, with a homestead to-boot.
It was one of several mills built and owned by flour-miller William Degraves, namesake of the city’s Degraves Street and son of Tasmania’s Cascade Brewery founder Peter Degraves.
The mill was also designed by Frances Maloney White, a sought-after architect at the time, responsible for other flour mills across the state.
Like a relic from a place far from here, the four-storey home is huge, but understated. Its grounds are neat and expansive, framing the converted-home like something out of a Jane Austen novel, with an Australian twist.
But unlike anything in an Austen novel, it sits next to the Calder Freeway, making it recognisable to many Macedon Ranges locals.
Abercromby’s Real Estate sales manager Jack Richardson said it was one of the largest properties of its kind owned privately in Victoria.
“The property has been renovated extensively over the last 26 years, you will not find a home that has been better cared for and looked after,” he said.
The ground floor of the mill boasts living and dining areas, floorboards, beams, a high-quality kitchen and a butler’s pantry. Here too is a gallery space, and a laundry room with a beautiful view of the grounds.
Just above, on the second floor, is a billiards room, a function room, a library, three bedrooms and a bathroom.
The third floor features two more bedrooms, alongside a spacious office area and board room, while the top floor is an open plan studio, with north facing arched windows and bluestone cobbled floors.
Nearby the grand house is the charming, Georgian bluestone homestead, built in 1853 to manage the building of the mill. With open fire places in each of its four bedrooms, plaster lined hallways and a laundry, it is on its own a delightful place to be.
“It is truly one of a kind, a very special home and opens itself to a wide range of uses,” Mr Richardson said.
“These types of properties do not come up very often, if at all. It is a fleeting opportunity.”
Though its price isn’t currently listed, it was last on the market for more than $6 million.
Details: bit.ly/3N1jj7J.
