9 Hill Street, Clunes has hit the market following an impressive reno.
A landmark, hilltop residence is poised to shatter Clunes’ property price record after being reinvigorated by a renovation worth well above $1m.
McQueen Broadhurst director Kim McQueen said there were “very few properties of (Hillcrest House’s) calibre in regional Victoria”.
It’s accordingly priced at $2.68m — a figure that, if achieved, would see 9 Hill Street easily become the most expensive piece of real estate to change hands in the gold rush town, surpassing a 66ha Beckworth Court Road property’s $1,755,072 sale.
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The owners added an extension comprising 13,000 recycled hawthorn blue bricks.
A pergola made from timbers recycled from the old Port Melbourne pier is another addition.
The historic house in 2016, before it was renovated.
Ms McQueen said a rush of Melbourne buyers were already seeking to secure Hillcrest House as a permanent residence or holiday home — a trend she had seen in several historic Victorian towns since COVID-19 kicked in.
“It’s like the whole of Melbourne wants to move to the country,” Ms McQueen said.
“A lot of people have always dreamt of moving to the country, but they’ve never been able to because they work full time in Melbourne. Now many people will no longer be in offices five days a week, they can pursue that dream.”
The residence now features a luxurious and cosy interior.
Handmade light fittings are a design highlight.
The house features two AGA ovens, both worth about $18,000.
Clunes had the added benefit of being on a train line to Melbourne, close to Ballarat’s esteemed private schools, world-renowned for its annual Booktown Festival and so picturesque it was regularly used for film and TV shoots. The town is perhaps most famous for appearing in 1979 cult film Mad Max.
Ms McQueen said the town was also catching the attention of property hunters who had been priced out of increasingly expensive Daylesford.
She said Hillcrest House was “almost derelict” before the owners’ two-year overhaul, which involved restoring the original part of the property, adding a modern extension and landscaping the 3042sq m block.
The house was almost derelict when the owners took it on.
It features formal and casual living and dining spaces.
A comfortable bedroom.
The vendors sourced 13,000 recycled hawthorn blue bricks for the new wing, used recycled timbers from the old Port Melbourne pier for the pergola, and imported wrought-iron gates from France.
Two AGA ovens worth $18,000 each, Italian tiles, handmade light fittings, 100 per cent Scottish wool blinds that are “like blankets”, and hydronic floor heating are among other luxury inclusions, while solar panels and battery storage keep the home’s bills low.
The vast grounds feature a fruit garden that yields quinces, peaches, plums, nectarines, lemons, limes, oranges and apples, along with vegetable beds and a daffodil walk. They’re kept lush via an automatic sprinkler system that sources water from an on-site bore.
The house overlooks picturesque Clunes from a hilltop position.
A sleek bathroom.
The historic town of Clunes is increasingly catching buyers’ eyes.
Ms McQueen said the vendors — who owned leading Daylesford accommodation business Dayget, as well as an old Clunes pub — had called the double-storey “grand country house” home while renting out the top floor to holiday-makers.
There are living spaces, bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens on both levels.
“The zoning is amazing,” Ms McQueen said. “It’s incredibly warm and cosy.”
Also on the market is a historic “station master’s residence” the vendors bought on eBay to save from demolition and transported to Clunes to run as holiday rental The Lodge under the Dayget umbrella.
This house at 4 Smith Street, Clunes, is on the market, after it was transported to the town from Williamstown.
The residence has functioned as popular holiday rental The Lodge.
The Smith Street house has a $690,000 asking price.
The 1904-built weatherboard was cut in half and driven about 135km to Clunes, where it was put back together over two weeks on a 1005sq m block at 4 Smith Street.
Owners James Hardy and Jack Hastings told the Herald Sun last year they then spent nine months renovating the three-bedroom house, retaining period charm in the form of stained-glass windows and doors, 4m-high ceilings, metal lacework, hand-carved fretwork and mantelpieces, cast-iron fireplaces and polished floorboards.
Belle Property Daylesford’s Angela Flowers has the listing with a $690,000 asking price.
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