Just 15 minutes’ drive from Ballarat’s shopping centres, on the road to the Grampians and on the Ballarat-Skipton Railtrail, lies this rare opportunity to build a new home (STCA) with sweeping views. The block by the banks of the Woady Yaloak River of nearly half an acre has an estimated house site of approx 550m2: plenty of room for a roomy house, a great shed, a pool, a veggie garden and a couple of horses.
The property combines country life with town amenity in the beautifully preserved goldfields village of Smythesdale at one end of the compact main street shown in the photos backing on to State Forest, and bordered by a country lane lined with oak trees also pictured. this block affords uninterrupted country views which cannot be built out, yet is a few minutes’ walk from doctors rooms, a vet practice, a pharmacy, petrol station, motor mechanic, the primary school, post office, Country Grocer IGA supermarket and bottle-o, good cafes and restaurants, and one of the region’s loveliest antique shops, Ruth Howlett Collectables. Without crossing a main road the Woady Yaloak Primary school is a five minute walk away, the Woady Yaloak Equestrian Centre (housing the Smythesdale Pony Club) a brief canter.
Thru the Gate Café offers Devonshire teas and sourdough loaves, while Rustic Edge offers pizzas and takeaway foods, and Birdsong Nursery offers egg breakfasts in a beautiful garden setting and, sometimes, curries. One of the region’s finest country hotels, the beautifully restored Court House (1859), with its wood fired pizzas and live music, is 450m up the road. (Or try the characterful Scarsdale Hotel (6 mins), Linton’s Railway Hotel (9 mins), Snake Valley’s Royal Hotel or the soon-to-be-reopened Cape Clear Hotel or (13 mins each)). Stock up on home made jams and cakes at the Smythesdale Country Market.
Build a house (STCA) with a couple of home offices or retire to the countryside. Commute a couple of days a week to Ballarat or take the express train to Melbourne. Let the younger kids walk themselves to the primary school, put the older ones on the free school bus into Ballarat, and your main use of a vehicle could be to go on family 4x4 adventures.
