Hundreds of years of Macedon Ranges history went up in flames last week in two devastating house fires.
Last Monday, fire ripped through Highbank, a 160-year-old Kyneton homestead recently renovated by former television personality Tonia Todman. The fire is believed to have been caused by a guest stoking a fire.
Ms Todman offered accommodation and classes in cooking, craft, interior design and gardening at the homestead.
“I’ve lost all of the things that are important to me … things like my family photos, my computer, my office,” she said. “Laundries, bathrooms, bedrooms are all gone.”
She said that she would rebuild and had no intention of leaving Kyneton.
The Highbank homestead was built at the beginning of the gold rush in the late 1840s by the Watson family, which had arrived from Scotland to move to farming land around Kyneton.
The family was known for breeding Clydesdale horses, which were kept in the stables that Ms Todman and her husband restored and transformed into self-contained apartments 13 years ago.
The CFA was called to the homestead on Donnelly Road about 7am on Monday and found the bluestone and timber farmhouse fully ablaze.
CFA operations officer Chris Jacobson said it appeared no one was to blame for the fire.
“The guests have just put the fire on and it’s believed that the heat from that has caught the shingles,” Mr Jacobson said.
No one was injured in the blaze. The fire was brought under control at 7.27am and fully extinguished by 9.15am.
Two days later, more than 30 firefighters and 10 appliances turned out to a house fire at Mount Macedon.
Fire gutted the historic 110-year-old house, named Durrol. The fire was believed to be caused by a burning log rolling out of one of the many fireplaces in the home while the occupants were in another room.
A 96-year-old occupant and her carer were safely evacuated before the fire took hold.
– with The Age, Bendigo Advertiser
