The new owners of an iconic 170-year-old parcel of land just north of Balmoral are looking to start their own dynasty there.
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David Hubble, his wife Michelle, his eldest son Brendan, Brendan’s wife Ashley and their two children Fletcher, 2 and Mirabelle, 1, all moved into Fulham Homestead in October.
Mr Hubble is originally from Melbourne and before his relocation had owned a firearms supplies store north of Geelong for many years. He and his wife both gave up their jobs to come to Fulham.
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“We had a small property in Lara that we loved, but our goal in our life was to own a larger property,” Mr Hubble said.
“We had in mind a bed and breakfast-type setup, but that idea evolved into something different, and when we saw the property we had to grab it. There was no real second-guessing.”
Mr Hubble said he saw an expressions of interest advertisement for Fulham Homestead on Domain the same week it was first listed in June. After making the six-hour round trip several times to view the property, he and his wife put in an offer and were successful.
“What we’re intending to do - providing we can get support from council - is a farm-stay setup," he said.
"Because we have animals here and we can enlarge and manipulate the animal levels to suit the number of people coming in,” he said.
“The other thing we would really like to get going is wedding ceremonies. The beauty of Heather (Walcott, previous co-owner) beforehand was she was a keen gardener and she developed this beautiful garden area from the front of the homestead down to the river, and we want people to enjoy the surroundings.”
Mr Hubble said his son Brendan and his family were keen to join him at Fulham, relocating from Ballan, east of Ballarat, to do so.
“It was their suggestion,” he said.
“They wanted to create a legacy for their children, and we were happy to play our part in that. He was in IT security, and his work has allowed him to work remotely.”
Mr Hubble said his wife Michelle had also managed to transfer her occupation over to the Wimmera. “She had a successful pilates and yoga studio, and she’s back into it in Balmoral with the bush nursing hospital here. They’ve embraced her with open arms.”
Mr Hubble said his family had been welcomed by the residents of Balmoral and Kanagulk and had been invited to many functions since moving in.
He has also taken up positions on committees in the area.
“We don’t want to take advantage of the area, we want to get involved and be part of the community,” he said.
“We understand we’re outsiders - breaking into generations of family ways in the local area can be tricky - but we’ve bought it to preserve it, and so that people can come and enjoy the significant heritage-listed buildings with us.”
Former owner Greg Walcott lived in and owned the 68-hectare property for 66 years.
Now semi-retired and living on 26 acres in Bushfield, north of Warrnambool, with his wife Heather, Mr Walcott said he was happy to have found new owners willing to maintain the historic buildings.
"If they're not looked after, they start to fall into disrepair," he said, "and the buildings we didn't use as much made it harder to justify the cost of upkeeping them.
"We were able to subdivide the buildings from the farmland and sell them separately, which is what made it possible for David to buy."
Mr Walcott said he had attended several public farewells by the local community prior to relocating to Bushfield in October.