An old homestead with views of Melbourne and Western Port Bay is for sale after 50 years.
Mount Beauty at 95 Thewlis Road, Pakenham, comes with a rustic homestead, a quirky 1917 train carriage and views that stretch down the Mornington Peninsula. It's expected to excite families, hobby farmers and investors alike.
When Jessica Wade was 13, her parents uprooted her and her three siblings from bustling London to an old house on a remote hill in regional Victoria called Mount Beauty.
The prettily named place was located just outside Pakenham, which back in the late 70s was a semi-rural settlement about 60km east of Melbourne. The family adored the nearly 12 hectares of land, the 270-degree views and the breathtaking sunsets.
The train carriage was added by the owners as guest accommodation. Picture: realestate.com.au
Ms Wade boasted to her friends back home that there were sheep on the school oval, while her own backyard housed cows, sheep, horses and llamas over the years.
"I used to catch a double-decker bus to school in London but here, I rode a horse to school once," Ms Wade said. "It was a very, very different lifestyle for us and a wonderful one."
Inside the train carriage. Picture: realestate.com.au
The Wades loved the place so much that they held onto it for nearly 50 years. But with their parents now gone and the four siblings leading separate lives, the home is on the market.
Ms Wade, now 60, is overseeing the sale on behalf of her siblings. She lives in Hobart though one of brothers remains at Mount Beauty.
It's now a very different property to the one they acquired. In the 1980s, the Wades renovated and expanded the homestead then shortly after, added an original 1917 train carriage to serve as quirky overflow accommodation.
Inside the train carriage, which was from an original 'Red Rattler'. Picture: realestate.com.au
The rustic homestead boasts four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a formal lounge with a fireplace, a spacious family and meals area, as well as a home office with a separate entrance.
An L-shaped verandah wraps the house, offering views that extend to Western Port Bay, Arthur's Seat on the Mornington Peninsula, and Melbourne's skyline.
The train carriage, from an original 1917 Red Rattler, was something Ms Wade says her mother "always wanted". It was hauled up the hill by truck then mounted into position by crane. It has no wheels but has been set up adjoining a covered terrace as if parked at a station.
Fully self-contained, it has a bedroom with ensuite, lounge, kitchen with pot belly stove, dining room and sunroom — and has proven to be a successful Airbnb earner, says Ms Wade.
"It's a gorgeous old thing, quite cosy and lovely. It's been a focus for family weddings and parties over the years and housed numerous guests."
Mount Beauty comes with two titles due to a decades-old subdivision. The largest lot, spanning nearly 11 hectares, contains the homestead, train carriage, a large garage/workshop, a hayshed, another garage, a spring-fed dam and 2 x 10,000l water tanks (although the property uses mains water).
Currently classified as Green Wedge land, Ms Wade says a process is underway to have it reclassified as Urban Growth Zone.
The second lot of one hectare is flat and vacant and offers road access along with a building envelope that makes it ideal for development.
Pakenham, now an outer Melbourne suburb, is undergrowing rapid transformation. Mount Beauty is ideally placed to capitalise, residing alongside the city's Urban Growth Boundary and adjacent to two new residential estates with another set to be developed.
The corner estate with two road frontages is also minutes from Lakeside and Arena shopping precincts, schools and cafes, and less than 1km from the Princes Highway.
"There's very heavy development around us; it's a very different area now to when we first arrived," Ms Wade says. She says the property would suit families, hobby farmers or investors.
But despite the increased activity, it still feels "quiet and peaceful" up on Mount Beauty, she adds, and says the views remain "magnificent".
"Mum planted lots of trees so it's full of birds. One King Parrot, who's still there, used to come in and sit on mum's ironing board when she was ironing.
"We've had good times there. It's a tremendous place and hard to sell but the memories I'll take with me."
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