PART of a grand dream that came true, The Bungalow stands now as a grand house and a dream home.
The historic property at 2 Chaffey Avenue, one of Sunraysia’s best-known original homes, was built next door to Rio Vista in 1891, a time when both residences were surrounded by dust, flies and the hope that a fledgling irrigation settlement would one day be an established and successful town carved out of the middle of nowhere.
Now surrounded by the thriving city that Mildura became, and the cornucopia of agricultural development we know as Sunraysia, The Bungalow has become a daydream for the countless people who have wanted to live there, but that too can come true for one of them as the property comes up for auction this month.
Standing on land once owned by the district-founding Chaffey family and then the aristocratically named Lancelot Conway-Gordon, the director of railways in India no less, the Queen Anne-style villa has also been home to local well-known business names such as Shilliday, Cornell and Burrows, and in recent decades has been restored, gently modernised and made ready for its next 130 years.
Current owner Michael Robertson, whose family has carried out the most recent work on the classic weatherboard, says he’s ready to move on and The Bunglaow will go under the hammer on Friday, March 22.
“It’s been a bit of a job and I like taking things on as a challenge, so it’s time to move on to the next challenge because there’s not much more I can do here,” the Mallee farmer told Sunraysia Daily this week as he spoke of work he and previous renovators had carried out to a home that’s both a time capsule and a modern home.
“I grew up in an old farmhouse that had verandas similar to this, and the big rooms and the big high ceilings … I suppose it brings back those sorts of memories,” he said as he explained part of his motivation for buying the grand home and praised the previous owners and the builders and tradespeople who had, with his own family, cumulatively created the historic masterpiece.
“It’s got all the modern amenities with the old-style feel, but it’s also got the great location,” he said.
“The arts centre is 50m away, the river is 150m away. It’s a great spot to live.
“The property market seems to agree, as about 30 groups toured the home during its first open inspection.
It is being marketed through Ray White Mildura and a reserve is yet to be set, but its history, size (three bedrooms and a small second residence), the quality of its restoration, modern amenities and magnificent gardens set on more than 2000 square metres suggest it will attract one of the highest prices paid for a home in Mildura this year.
