Top notch equestrian estate with luxury home listed in Wallington
The keen showjumper and dressage rider faced a long wait, exacerbated by Covid, before getting the green light to construct a new modern farmhouse at 522-550 Grubb Rd, Wallington.
But, true to form, she put the time to good use, creating the equestrian estate of her dreams.
'I had my horses agisted at a place and I was spending several hours a day there and my husband and daughter got sick of me not being around,' she says.
Bellarine Peninsula gets green light for 2000 new homes
'They said 'why don't be buy some land so we can have the horses there?'. We looked at everything from five acres and this 25 acres had become available and it was a blank canvas so we bought it very much on spec hoping we would be able to get a building permit and started the equestrian facilities and they just took on a life of their own.'
A full sized showjumping area, 22 paddocks and four 6m x 6m stables are among first-class equestrian facilities that now bring in an income through agistment and clinics.
Much to everyone else's relief, the family also eventually got its long-awaited custom luxury home, constructed by award-winning Bellarine Peninsula firm Larkin & Drought.
The vendor designed the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house with help from a draftsman and wanted it to look like a shearing shed so it didn't stand out in the area's rural landscape.
A glass breezeway – suggested by builder Drew Larkin – links two pavilions, one home to a vast open-plan living area and the other a rumpus room and four bedrooms, each with its own ensuite and walk-in wardrobe.
'That big open living area is really lovely to spend time in but it's really quite surprising when you open up the door between the sections of the house and that glass walkway is just filled with beautiful light no matter what time of day because it goes east and west,' the vendors says.
As well as crafting the living area's signature exposed rafters, the builder also added an exposed brick wall and devised a clever spiral deck wrapped in corrugated cladding for the magnesium plunge pool outside.
'He took a bit of artistic licence and ran with it, which was really nice. He was really fantastic to work with,' she says.
Wide vine-covered decks for entertaining or soaking up the rural views and a fire pit area are accessible from both the primary living area and the oversized main bedroom suite.
In winter, built-in bench seating in the living room invites guests to settle in by the double sided wood fire.
'We have the most expansive views from all the windows, it's quite incredible. You get sunrises on one side and sunsets on the other,' the vendor says.
RT Edgar, Bellarine agent Felix Hakins is calling for expressions of interest in 522-550 Grubb Rd, Wallington, by 5pm on August 25. Price hopes are $4.8m to $5.28m.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
6 minutes ago
- ABC News
Illegal tyre dumping scam shut down as NT Environment Protection Authority opens investigation
When Anwar Albatat returned to work after a two-week holiday, he was stunned by what had been left in his yard. A mountain of old tyres blocked his view of the tiny houses he makes. He had had suspicions, but it was then that the realisation fully set in. The industrial yard he rented to construct and sell homes had been used as a base for a scam. Over the past six months, two Darwin businesses have been left with tonnes of tyres and a massive clean-up bill after falling victim to a tyre dumping scheme that has impacted people across Australia. "Everything seemed to be 100 per cent genuine about [the workers sharing our yard]," Mr Albatat said. "They hired people … they had their own truck. "But slowly, slowly we start to realise they were not coming here anymore. Mr Albatat said at the beginning of the year, his landlord rented out a portion of the yard to a new tyre recycling company called Seoul Traders, which needed space to store and recycle tyres. Property owner Peter Kruhse said the NT Environment Protection Authority (EPA) had granted the company a licence to recycle tyres on a commercial basis, which was a requirement under Northern Territory law. "At first, they paid rent on time," the landlord said. "Then, they pretended to pay it and they'd send me screenshots of payments … and eventually they disappeared." He said phone calls went unanswered when he tried to chase them up, and he wasn't able to track the tenants down. "It was a nightmare. I slogged in the sun for a month packing the tyres into stacks," Mr Kruhse said. The scam targets businesses with stacks of worn tyres, offering discounted recycling services. Operators collect their payment, but then abandon the tyres at rented lots or backyards and vanish with the cash. In May, interstate authorities alerted the NT Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to the scam after it had taken place in other jurisdictions — sparking an investigation. The EPA went to the site to carry out an inspection on Seoul Traders, and found it was breaching a number of licence conditions. In June, the EPA suspended their licence. "Seoul Traders was granted an environment protection licence in March," a spokesperson told the ABC. The spokesperson said the EPA checks the business records of applicants and asks if they have held licences or committed environmental offences previously, and Seoul Traders met the basic ASIC requirements to get an ABN and operate in Australia. In 2020, thousands of old tyres were illegally dumped at vacant land lots and in the backyards of rented homes across Western Australia, prompting authorities to issue warnings about the scam. Mr Kruhse estimated the company left around 50 tonnes of tyres on his Darwin lot, which could cost him over $30,000 to dispose of. In May, NTEX — a legitimate recycling company in Darwin — was also targeted. Paul Wilson, the company's facility manager, said the scammers organised to pay for around 20 tonnes of tyres to be recycled. He said NTEX also checked the company's credentials and found there was "no reason to question this particular client". But after the tyres were dropped off, NTEX never heard from them again, and the bill was never paid. Mr Wilson said after numerous attempts to contact the company, NTEX decided to take the tyres back to the address they had on file: Mr Kruhse's property where Anwar Albatat makes his tiny homes. Recycling tyres in the NT is an expensive and complex process, despite the growing overseas market for the shredded rubber and steel. It now costs more than $1,000 for a commercial business to dispose of a tonne of tyres at the NT's main waste facility, and there are only a few cheaper options like NTEX, which charges $610 per tonne. Mr Wilson said the steep rise in costs had led to a surge in illegal tyre dumping across Australia.
ABC News
36 minutes ago
- ABC News
Young man with autism finds second home at the Forbes saleyards
It can be a noisy and even hectic environment, but the Forbes Central West Livestock Exchange is where Ryan Glennan feels at home. The 22-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum, spends most weeks helping out the agents and occasionally taking centre stage as auctioneer. "It's home for me," he said. "My customers, they're loyal … it's personal for me. "We're a kind of family." Support worker Kacey Schatz said several livestock agents had formed a close relationship with Mr Glennan. "The amount of support and trust and love that is around Ryan warms me," she said. "These guys that are out here, they're magical in what they do and how they act." Mr Glennan has worked his way up to selling cattle after starting off cleaning up pens as part of a once-a-week volunteer work placement. He has been liaising with stock and station agents and even stirring up buyers. Agent and auctioneer for VC Reid and Smith, Sam Smith, has supported Mr Glennan since he started coming to the yards. Mr Glennan has described Mr Smith as the brother he never had. "I asked him if he wanted to sell, and he got very excited about it," Mr Smith said. "Since then it's every week or every fortnight, something we all look forward to, and I'm sure all the buyers are the same. "I just think it's great that these kids can come out here, have a crack, and do what they enjoy. "It makes his day, it makes everyone's day." Mr Smith said it was something he would like to see all workplaces take on. Office and administration for VC Reid and Smith, Caitlin Webb, said finding a role for Mr Glennan had been easy. "He loves to jump up and loves to get involved in the auction, it's really nice to see him getting involved when he gets going," Ms Webb said. "He was coming down to the yards anyway, and … Sam started really getting him involved in the selling. "It's so easy, he's easy to get along with, and he wants to do it." Karyn Glennan said her son was a more confident and happy person at the saleyards. "The joy that it fills us with is unexplainable. "Thank you never seems to be enough for what the guys give him the opportunity to do." Mrs Glennan said the people at Forbes saleyards inspired other workplaces to do their part for their community. "I hope that other people see this and go, 'Oh, maybe I can include someone in our world,'" she said. "It doesn't have to be for a long time, it doesn't have to be every day, it just has to be a little bit, and that just builds their confidence. "That's the big message."
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Living standards to fall as RBA warns on growth
Australians' living standards will fall and there's very little the central bank can do about it. According to the Reserve Bank's statement on monetary policy, there will be lower pay rises, weak consumer spending, falling business profits and an overall drop in living standards over the medium term. The central bank put the issue squarely on Australia's lack of productivity and points out it is powerless to stop it. 'Lower productivity growth means slower growth in business revenues, household incomes and ultimately demand,' the RBA's quarterly statement on monetary policy said. Despite the grim outlook, the RBA boss Michele Bullock was quick to point out there was little the central bank could do to fix these issues, even as she announced last Tuesday that the board was cutting interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.60 per cent. '(The) productivity slowdown is a matter for the government that they are taking on,' Ms Bullock said. 'They're looking at what they can do.' Ms Bullock said businesses were also looking at the issue. 'There's nothing the Reserve Bank can do,' she continued. 'All the Reserve Bank can do is make sure we have low and stable inflation, and if we have full employment, both of those things are very stable environments for businesses to think about how they might improve productivity, how they might produce more for the same amount of labour and capital input.' The RBA's call comes just days ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmers' much-hyped economic roundtable Economists, unions, business people and politicians will all head to Canberra next week for a three-day discussion aimed at lifting Australia's falling productivity. Why does it matter? Simply put, productivity matters because it improves living standards, leads to economic growth and a greater economy. Productivity is the measure of how efficiently resources such as time, effort and materials are used to produce a given output. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia's long-term productivity has slumped. In 2003-2004, productivity grew at 1.8 per cent a year; in 2022-2023, it was down to just 0.9 per cent a year. Under this grim reality, Australians' living standards are falling. To put a dollar figure on it, the Productivity Commission estimated that full-time workers would be $14,000 a year worse off by 2035 if Australia couldn't rediscover its previous growth and continued on its current trend. Separate RBA research found the slump in productivity came at the same time as a lack of competition in business, costing every Aussie about $3000 in today's dollars. Australians remain in the dark Despite having a wide-ranging impact on their lives, most Australians are unaware of what the government is doing or trying to achieve with its productivity roundtable. According to Amplify and YouGov polling, three in four Aussies haven't heard of the roundtable and a further 60 per cent are not confident it would lead to meaningful change. Amplify chief executive Georgina Harrisson said this issue hits every Australian household, but too often governments propose solutions that pit different parts of the community against each other. 'This roundtable can't just be a talkfest limited to the Canberra bubble – not when the issue is being felt in every Australian home,' she said. 'Australians are doing it tough, with rising bills, higher housing costs and lower productivity. 'The government can't afford to waste this moment on words alone; we need action that delivers real wins in people's pockets.' Ms Harrisson said the government needed to do far more to bring the voices of everyday Australians into the discussion. 'When the community don't trust or feel understood by their political representatives, it is more important than ever to be reaching out and letting them in to the conversations that affect them most,' she said. Four things to lift productivity Meanwhile, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver says there are four key ways the government can lift productivity. He believes too much regulation, the current tax system, a lack of competition and government overspending is all holding Australia back. Dr Oliver said productivity is the 'secret sauce' that enables strong growth in real wages, living standards and profits while, at the same time, keeping inflation low. 'So hopefully, the Roundtable will kick off a process of economic reform that will boost the ability of the economy to produce goods and services with the aim of boosting long-term living standards,' he said. Dr Oliver said the government should lift productivity through removing red tape, tax reform, increasing competition and having government spending capped at 25 per cent of GDP. It is currently 28 per cent. 'Combined it should free up the supply side of the economy to make it easier for the economy to supply goods and services for any given level of hours worked by Australian workers,' he told NewsWire. 'For example, it should enable us to build more homes and allow businesses to produce more.' As part of the roundtable, the economist said there needs to be a rebalance away from income taxes to a broader GST, while compensating those on a lower income, and removing nuisance taxes like stamp duty, would be key to getting Australia's productivity back on track. 'This sounds politically difficult but if combined with an adjustment to income tax scales to offset the regressive nature of the GST, some measures to cap property tax concessions (like cutting the overly generous capital gains tax discount) and better tax gas exports a broad consensus could be reached,' he said. Dr Oliver also proposed keeping government spending below 25 per cent of GDP as it would ensure budget stability and boost productivity by not having the government taking more than required when it comes to workers. 'The reality of course is that everyone has their wish list and expectations running into the Roundtable appear to be running too high. It's likely just the start of long process through which (hopefully) the government will pick the best options and make some compromises,' he said. NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine said stronger business investment and less regulation was required to help lift Australia's ailing productivity. 'The vast amount of job growth in our country in the last 10 years has been in the public sector, not the private sector,' he said at the Australian Banking Association annual conference in Sydney. 'When I speak to our business customers, they say it's just too hard to start, scale and grow a business. We need to fix that and reduce red tape to create more jobs in the private sector.'
