The owners of this property just south of Drouin/Warragul in West Gippsland spent almost 3 years searching for a setting with incomparable views and managed to hit the jackpot. Deciding that the area was close enough to Melbourne (about 100kms to the west) to enable easy continuing contact with family and friends (and the footy); big enough to ensure that facilities such as restaurants and retail services, hospitals and other health care options would always be available; on the freeway and the country rail network; yet offering a nice, quiet country lifestyle with a great climate and sensational soil for gardening; choosing this property was not hard.
Not being farmers themselves, the owners weren't looking for a large acreage but were assured that leasing the majority of the 111 acres to others to provide an additional source of retirement income was feasible - and the farm has remained leased for every day since they bought it! Or you can do it all yourself on a well-fenced and well-maintained property that produces plenty of hay. There are cattle yards to allow for easy movement of cattle and a solar powered pump draws water from the huge dam to gravity feed water across the property. The later addition of an NBN pole supplements your income, with a guaranteed contract until 2035 including 3% annual rises built in (and the NBN are looking to extend the contract). Wi-fi is great!
You reach the property on a quiet rural road and drive up your own all weather bitumen driveway to a house designed by Six Degrees, an architectural firm who followed sound principles to ensure the house sits lightly on the land. It offers sufficient space for a couple on a permanent basis while allowing for family and friends to stay over in comfort. The home is solidly built with a steel frame wrapped around a grid of iron bark posts throughout. Double glazing on all windows enhances the liveability of the house while two reverse cycle air conditioners, electric panels in the bedroom wing and a wood fire in the main room, when coupled with the many fly-screened windows, offers the ability to heat and cool the house to your desired level.
The kitchen has large areas for food preparation with Miele and Neff appliances to compliment your cooking skills. While there's a standard sized fridge in the house, the large (powered) storage shed has a second fridge plus a stand-alone freezer to increase your ability to stock up and store produce from the garden.
The front outdoor area has been designed to take advantage of the spectacular views. North facing, with a large glass wall to enhance the experience, the BBQ with a wok burner and the pizza oven provide plenty of options for great culinary experiences in relaxed and quiet surrounds. With a glass of wine or a beer in hand, relaxation is the name of the game. But if you want a more covered setting, the rear pergola with its blinds and paved area offers a superb alternative (and it's a good spot for the Weber).
The garden was designed by landscape architects and provides a variety of trees, shrubs, flowers and grassed areas to satisfy the inner gardener in all of us. With six raised garden beds ready for whatever vegetables you would like to grow, you're on your way to a sustainable lifestyle. The large variety of fruit trees will add seasonable variety to your diet - and we all know it tastes better when you grow it yourself! There's even olive trees to harvest.
With many strategically located tanks your (free) water needs are taken care of. Your electricity bills will be offset by the 12 solar panels on the large shed feeding excess power back into the grid. There's a large gas bottle to provide energy for your cooking inside, the outdoor BBQ and on demand hot water. There's even a studio shed overlooking the dam that, subject to council approval, could be used as a second residence or a Bed and Breakfast.
The large storage shed has its own power and light. There is plenty of shelving and a bench for the home handyman. With a mezzanine floor to almost double the storage space you with have lots of room to store the many important items you've collected along the way. The ride-on mower exits the shed through the rear roll-a-door for your hour's mowing round the house area and the lean-to at the rear covers the wood pile and the trailer. A second shed, overlooking the raised garden beds, provides the ideal set-up for potting and all the other gardening tasks associated with managing your veggie patch and the large orchard of various fruit trees.
Wherever you are in the house you have views. Pull up in the carport and take a moment to check the view. For the ultimate indulgence sit back after a day in the garden and take advantage of the in a nice hot bath that has been raised especially to allow you to take in the Great Dividing Range as a background. Dining at breakfast, lunch or dinner has you seated to take in the northerly view. Lay back in bed and take in the westerly view. Walk between the main room and the bedrooms and take in the view to both north and south. At night the lights of Warragul, Drouin, Pakenham and other local towns draw the eye even from a distance. And the fireworks displays on New Year's Eve are a highlight, giving you the display without the noise.
If your dream (as it was and still is for the owners) is to spend your life telling yourself how lucky you are to have found arguably the best views in West Gippsland, then this property is for you. Most, if not all, of what you are looking for is already here - a well-built house, a great garden, plenty of storage inside the house with large storage sheds close by, multiple options for sourcing much of your own fresh food (the chicken coop will help too), not being too far from anywhere and with strong ongoing sources of income.
Oh, and did we mention the views?
