spa		romantic
group		woodfire
family		aircon
pets		wheelchair

Area: All Macedon Area - Gisborne - Kyneton - Lancefield - Macedon - Malmsbury - Mount Macedon - Riddells Creek - Romsey - Trentham - Woodend - Hanging Rock Daylesford Area - Daylesford - Hepburn Springs - Musk - Glenlyon

Type: All Hosted Hotel Hotel/Motel Motel Self Contained

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Home > Accommodation Victoria > Property Of The Month > Mudlark Retreat

Macedon Ranges Property Showcase

Property of The Month - Mudlark Retreat

Mudlark is an enticing hideaway nestled in the bush 9 kilometers from Kyneton which offers the romance and promise of an idyllic bush retreat close to a country town. Access is in the main by sealed roads, but a sign posted on the side of the road as you near the property urges the visitor to "Please travel in one gear". The sign is not a warning of bad conditions ahead, but rather an invitation to enjoy the arrival, to respect the bush setting and protect the wildlife.

After rounding the last curve, the guest is greeted with a view of what can be only be described as iconic Australian rural scene - a mudbrick home nestled in the bush- no picket fences, or manicured lawns or public transport. While neighbours are near, their presence is barely visible.

Mudlark is an "authentic" product of Australia's recent past. It epitomises an expression of the 70s "back to the earth" movement. Here is a mud brick house constructed by the homeowner/ builder with the requisite colour palate of browns, oranges and creams, mud brick rendered and left in its natural colours, exposed beams, stays hewn from available timber and woven throw rugs in abundance.

The owners have retained this look. It is a house lovingly built with touches of eccentricity and which bears very few marks of renovation or "modernising." One of its attractions is its expression of a life style of Australia's recent past.

Mudlark offers self -catering accommodation for up to eight.

This house has an open plan design with the social and entertainment areas at one end. The kitchen provides all amenities including both combustion and electric stoves, dishwasher, fridge (there is a second fridge tucked away for special items or for the food and drinks necessary for that special occasion!) and a neatly stocked pantry with the essentials. There is plenty of functional crockery and cutlery and glasses in the kitchen area (more fragile glasses and more stylish crockery are housed in one of the family areas). An eating table for casual meals is adjacent to the kitchen.

The spacious primary living area is a flexible one which visitors could use in a variety of ways. It comprises two spacious social areas divided by a huge open fireplace. One of the spaces is adjacent to the kitchen .The other, diagonally opposite the kitchen, contains the open fireplace and the entertainment system (TV and music). Both spaces contain large comfortable couches which immediately encourage the visitor want to make themselves at home and relax.

This space allows a largish groups to be comfortable but also enables people to "hive off' for example into two smaller groups - possibly three if a group collects around the table- while simultaneously retaining a sense of togetherness.

There are plenty of large windows to let the light stream into the living areas, and every window frames a vista of the Australian bush. Guests can look out in wonder from the comfort of an armchair. In the front living area a large and generous window seat offers the ultimate in dream spaces- window seats incite memories of childhood novels in which both dreams and adventures only occurred in a house with a window seat!


Mudlark can accommodate up to 8 guests in three bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms have double beds. The third spacious bedroom, running the width of the house, has an open plan flexible aspect. It is semi divided and contains both a double bed and two single beds. It would appeal to parents of young children as a sleeping and resting space, but could also be attractive to a small group or family. There is a comfortable bathroom, a separate shower and separate toilet.

Mudlark bears distinctive signs of ingenuity and creative passions of the owner builder/s. The house features the use of recycled leadlight, recycled doors and doorknobs, pre-loved furniture. There are some delightful chairs handcrafted from logs and stumps, ceramic pieces and original art works. These objects lends a very personal quality to the spaces while also engendering flights of fancy such as Who made this chair? What inspired this painting? Where did this door come from?

The building would appeal to those who love nostalgia and to baby boomers who might recall this 70s era in Australian cultural and social history. For younger visitors Mudlark may offer the fascination of a style that they know as "70s Retro."

However the 70s Australian home style is only one element of what Mudlark has to offer. It is quintessentially the opportunity to enjoy a retreat in the Australian bush - complete with visits from wallabies and other native animals and birds.

On the property each point of the compass offers an enticing attraction. To the south through bush, a dam which contains water even in the dry summer, offers reverie by the water, a place for meditation, the challenges of yabbying or the delights of nature watching. To the north Mudlark offers the seductions of a cottage garden resplendent with splashes of colour and wafts of perfume from both herbs and flowers. You can wander through the garden or laze in the garden seat under the vine leaf fringed verandah and enjoy the fruits of other's endeavours. When I visited the owners had left a note to encourage the use of the locally grown produce- rhubarb, zucchinis, and parsley. To the east, a tennis court both surprises and entices the guest to have a hit. (The Mudlark Guest book shows that the tennis court attracts both adults and children).

This is the sort of place in which the comfortable furnishings, the no nonsense casual homeliness of the presentation and the sense of a much loved family home encourage the guest to relax, kick off their shoes, flop into a couch, and feel permission to let the world go by. If exercise and action takes your fancy (those other bush retreat pleasures), there are options a plenty for walking, cycling, yabbying or playing tennis. In colder months, the possibility of being ensconced in a comfortable chair in front of a roaring open fire in the bush and away from it all may make Mudlark a winter attraction (with slab heating for extra warmth and ease).

Mudlark could be a recuperative space, a springboard to seduction by the Australian bush, a romantic retreat, a great place for a celebratory occasion. It is definitely a getaway. And, should you need them, the attractions of the Macedon region are not far away.

Marcia Pope



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