Victorian ghost town ‘Australia’s Schitt’s Creek’ finally sold

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Vic's wild west towns - artwork for herald sun real estate 2025

Wolf Creek double Chris Olver (left) has built his own wild west village while ‘Australia’s Schitt’s Creek’ (centre) and Maldon’s Porcupine Village (right) are set to get new leases on life. Pictures: Tim Carrafa/Supplied/Rob Leeson.

A Victorian ghost town dubbed “Australia’s Schitt’s Creek” has just been sold off, from its hotel to its mining ruins, in a seven-figure deal that’s taken three years to be sealed.

It comes as a Maldon colonial village is preparing to re-open to tourists and a Victorian man in his 80s who’s been coached by John Jarratt to impersonate Wolf Creek serial killer Mick Taylor has revealed he’s still taking care of his own mannequin-filled wild west town.

The impressive village comes complete with a film house, brothel, saloon, grave yard and jail.

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In the most recent transaction, the former Gippsland mining town Coopers Creek has finalised a torturous sales effort that began in 2022 when it was put up for sale for $2.5m-$3m and advertised as the Aussie Schitt’s Creek.

Schitt’s Creek, a Canadian television show about a wealthy family fallen on hard times who moves to a small town they bought as a joke, ran for six seasons.

Coopers Creek was settled in the 1860s Gold Rush, but its hotel shut in 1952 and most of the buildings became derelicts.

An entrepreneur later bought up the town’s titles and passed the 4.45ha land parcel onto his family, and his son reopened and ran the pub until 2007.

Coopers Creek - for herald sun real estate

The ex-mining town of Coopers Creek in Gippsland has a new owner after being put on the market in 2022. It became known as “Australia’s Schitt’s Creek” during the sales campaign.

Actors Catherine O’Hara, Dan Levy and Eugene Levy in the hit television show Schitt’s Creek which aired on the ABC in Australia. Picture: Supplied.

Coopers Creek was established in the in the 1860s.

Jellis Craig North East’s Ian Mason said the ghost town had sold not long after being listed, but the deal never settled, with another buyer snapping up the property off-market in November.

Mr Mason declined to comment on the price, but industry sources indicated it was a seven-figure deal.

“The new owner is local to that part of the state and is going to use it for their family to go and camp and enjoy the environment there,” Mr Mason said.

It’s not the only uninhabited Victorian village to encounter false starts after being put on the market.

Wild West village owned by Mick Taylor from Wild Creek lookalike

Chris Olver in the wild west village he has built across more than two decades at his Yandoit property. Picture: Tim Carrafa.

35 Mystic Drive, Yandoit - for herald sun real estate

Mr Olver named his village Cross Creek in honour of a town from the 1956 movie The Fastest Gun Alive.

Mr Olver also acts as a double for Wolf Creek actor John Jarratt at events and charity gigs. He’s pictured in character as serial killer Mick Taylor.

The wild west village of Cross Creek, near Castlemaine, was built by Chris Olver, a fan of western films and stand-in for Wolf Creek actor John Jarratt at events such as the comic and gaming convention Supanova and charity gigs.

Mr Olver, 80, used recycled materials he collected as a truck driver for the project at his and wife Shirley’s property in Yandoit.

He’s now spent more than two decades putting together Cross Creek which even has a replica church, stagecoach booking office, blacksmith and mannequins in period costume.

“It actually got a little bit out of hand, because I started off, I built one, and then I built another one,” Mr Olver said.

“Before I knew it, I had a bit of a town on my hands.”

The Cross Creek church has a mannequin priest and congregation. Picture: Tim Carrafa.

There’s also cemetery with false gravestones and a mining set-up, as a nod to Yandoit’s Gold Rush history.

Cross Creek is not open to the public but Mr Olver occasionally hosts car clubs, university student film shoots and organisations like Probus in return for a donation. Picture: Tim Carrafa.

Mr Olver enjoys watching old movies on the picture theatre’s 16mm projector, hosting family and friends in summer, and welcoming the occasional car club or Probus visit.

In 2023, he and Shirley put their home on the market due to “no longer being spring chickens” but ended up opting not to sell as they love living there.

Mr Olver is also part of the Wolf Creek Travelling Show which promotes Australian film and raises funds for good causes.

Organisers Glenn Bertram and Lyndon Holt recruited Mr Olver as stand-in for actor John Jarratt who portrayed Wolf Creek’s main character, sadistic serial killer Mick Taylor.

“John Jarrett showed me exactly how and what I had to do,” Mr Olver said.

“He told me, ‘Look, go down the bush to start talking to trees, or start talking to kangaroos in the Mick Taylor voice and chuckle and get it right because people will ask you to do it’.”

Five years ago, Maldon’s Porcupine Village sold to a new owner who is hoping to re-open it to the public. Manager Doug Baird stands in the main street. Picture: Rob Leeson.

There’s an old-style undertakers at the village complete with coffins. Picture: Rob Leeson.

And about 26km away, the former Porcupine Village tourist attraction in Maldon is still preparing to reopen to the public after closing in 2005.

Records show the site, a mix of Gold Rush-era buildings and duplicates, sold for $1.75m five years ago.

In June 2025, then-Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny granted a permit for a $1.9m upgrade at the village including a function centre and museum, wildlife park and motel.

An opening date of late 2025 has been reported in relation to the reopening, but it does not appear to have been met.

Porcupine Village was contacted for comment.

Porcupine Village features a Cobb & Co office. The stagecoach business ran until 1924 when its last service operated in Queensland. Picture: Rob Leeson.

VICTORIA’S WILD WEST TOWNS

Coopers Creek, Gippsland – known as “Australia’s Schitt’s Creek”

Former 1860s Gold Rush town

Features: two campsites, two-bedroom home, closed hotel and mining ruins.

Cross Creek, Yandoit

Private village built by homeowner Chris Olver on his property

Features: saloon, courthouse, jail, general store, church, blacksmith, picture theatre, stagecoach booking office, brothel and grain store.

Porcupine Village, Maldon

Replica 1850s gold mining town

Features: 32 buildings, some original to the era and some replicas, including a bathhouse, hotel, funeral parlour, school, blacksmith, post office, doctors’ surgery, dressmaker, mining supplies store, police station, general store, butcher, bank and homes.

The historic gold mining town of Walhalla. Picture: Mark Stewart.

Walhalla, Gippsland

Well-preserved 19th-century gold mining town

Features: heritage buildings such as shops and hotels, the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine tourist attraction, Walhalla Goldfields Railway and Walhalla Tramline Walkway.

Pioneer Settlement, Swan Hill

Living history museum

Features: About 50 buildings from the 1830s to the 1930s such as a blacksmith, general store, schoolhouse, homesteads, post office, bakery, coach house and print shop with an original treadle press.