382 Specimen Gully Road, Faraday VIC 3451

Live on your own terms. This two-bedroom brick home is fully off-grid, set on approximately 5.8 acres of flowering bushland. Solar panels feed two batteries and an inverter. Three tanks collect and store the water. Bottled gas supplies the cooktop and oven. Four wicking beds are ready for vegetables, and apple trees are already in the ground. It is a home that asks very little of the grid and gives a lot back.

The land is the other half of the story. The block is undulating and planted with care over many years. Lavender, daisies, iris, lilac and jonquils spill between granite boulders and old gums. There are more than 200 (approx.) lavender bushes, along with rosemary, native peppermint and agaves. The hillside changes through the year, and each season gives you something new to find. Birds are part of the day here, from first light to dusk. A dam sits at the far end of the block. A circular driveway with two entries leads to the carport. Two sheds are ready for tools, firewood and projects.

The home was built in the mid-1980s on a steel frame, with brick walls and a concrete floor painted a warm terracotta. It is a 70sqm residence, and it is easy to live in. The living, dining and kitchen area is one open room. Timber cabinetry and a patterned tile splashback give it character. Every window looks out to the garden, and Mount Leanganook (Mount Alexander) is part of the view from the living space. A door opens to the front porch, where a bench sits on stone paving among the lavender. It is a good place for a morning cup of tea. Winter here is warm. A solid wood heater with a baker’s oven sits at the heart of the home. It heats the living area, bakes bread and heats the hot water through the cooler months. In summer, instant gas hot water takes over.

The main bedroom is generous at 5.8 by 3.7 metres, with a wall of windows facing the bush. The second bedroom suits guests, a study or a child. The bathroom has a shower over the bath and a basin, with the laundry alongside and a separate toilet.

Castlemaine is 10 minutes away, Bendigo is 30 minutes, and Melbourne is 90 minutes. It is easy to live gently on the land here without being far from the things that matter.

Whether you arrive for a weekend or stay for good, this is a home that welcomes you in. The garden is already planted, and the kettle is ready to go on. It is the kind of place you come back to and feel at ease in, every time.