A quirky Mooroolbark cottage which served as the studio of pioneering landscape designer Edna Walling is for sale with a $900,000-$990,000 price tag.
The late Ms Walling is famed for her garden designs including at Langwarrin’s Cruden Farm which she created for philanthropist and Murdoch media dynasty matriarch Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.
26 Bickleigh Vale Rd, Mooroolbark, was established as the studio of landscape designer Edna Walling in the 1930s.
Ms Walling also designed the grounds at opera singer Dame Nellie Melba’s Coldstream home and Bickleigh Vale, an English-style village which she established in Mooroolbark during the 1920s.
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Today, the location is listed with the Heritage Council of Victoria.
A one-bedroom cottage named Sarn, originally known as The Cabin, was built by Ms Walling to serve as her studio in the 1930s.
Set on 4216sq m, a winding no-through road set among several trees leads to the home which features handcrafted stonework, tiles placed by Ms Walling herself, exposed beams and an open fireplace.
The owner has renovated the kitchen at the cottage which is known as Sarn and was originally named The Cabin.
Edna Walling studied a certificate in horticulture at Burnley College and became a gardener, opening a landscape design practice in the 1920s.
The studio-turned-cottage was designed and hand-built by Ms Walling.
Jellis Craig’s Matthew Bishop said the owner of 26 Bickleigh Vale Rd cottage had done an “amazing job” renovating the kitchen, living and dining spaces, upstairs bedroom, study nook and attic-style storage.
The garden retains hints of Walling’s signature rock walls and seasonal plantings along with a shed connected to power, and a carport.
“It’s a nice little oasis hidden away in suburbia, it is beautiful,” Mr Bishop said.
“It is a gem hidden away in this little precinct of big blocks and surrounded by greenery.”
Did someone say fairytale charm?
A winding road leads to the cottage.
The next owners could live in the cottage as is or extend it, pending council approval, he noted.
The owner has updated the electricals, plumbing, roof, windows and flooring.
Mr Bishop said that Sarn reminded him of the circa-1755 Cook’s Cottage in East Melbourne, although it was larger than that particular building.
“It is quite quirky and I am quite tall, so I have to bend down to enter this home,” he said.
The block is often visited by birds including kookaburras, rosellas, parrots and currawongs.
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