Accomodation at Highbank

The old bluestone stables and blacksmiths have been converted into stunningly elegant accommodation.

This historic 160 year old bluestone building includes the original Clydesdale stable, the groom's attic quarters and the blacksmith's room. It is now an elegantly restored and welcoming self-contained B&B, with two queen sized bedrooms, bathroom, lounge, kitchen and dining areas. All this is accessed from a stone walled garden entrance from a private driveway.

It is quiet and serene here at Highbank, with gardens and thousands of roses to walk amongst and yet it is only five minutes drive from Piper Street, Kyneton. Or, twenty minutes from Daylesford, ten minutes from Woodend and thirty minutes from Castlemaine.

Gourmet breakfast provisions are supplied for you, and a bottle of local wine is on-hand to welcome you. The stables are heated by a wood fire in Winter – and the bluestone is deliciously cool in Summer.

It is luxuriously furnished and every detail for your comfort has been considered and catered for. Pets are welcome.

This accommodation at 'Highbank' will be available from December 17th, 2009.

Please email tonia@toniatodman.com to enquire about booking 'Highbank'.

The history of 'Highbank'.

Highbank has a continuous history that starts in the late 1840s. The complete Watson family arrived in Australia from Scotland in 1848 on the good ship 'Fanny' and soon travelled to the rich farming land of Kyneton, Victoria. There they had been granted land of 1 square mile, and, being renowned stone masons, built their bluestone farmhouse and named it Highbank Hill Farm, an accurate replica of the house they left in Northern England, complete with blacksmiths and stables.

While the Watson boys worked at building bridges between Melbourne and Bendigo, they also became known for the champion Clydesdale horses they bred at Highbank. Horses from the CUB brewery teams would be sent to Highbank for some rest and new shoes - and we are delighted to say we have a young Clydesdale grazing in our paddocks.

Both the house and gardens are being masterfully restored. This has been undertaken with Highbank's history and era in mind; attics have been re-opened, return-verandahs restored, open fireplaces repaired and dry-stone walls repaired and extended. The bones of the garden have been re-discovered and two magnificent century-old Kashmir cedar trees and two ancient pear trees have been tended to and secured. Blackberries and gorse infestations have been cleared and the stone well has been repaired. Thousands of spring-flowering bulbs have been discovered and careful re-planting of cold-climate plants is well under way. Thousands of fragrant roses have been planted and Tonia is likely to become the largest fragrant garden rose grower in Victoria. These magnificent bushes bloom from October to May, and the gardens are open to visitors during Summer. It's here at our shop 'Rosies' that you will find our signature Rose and Herb bouquets.