A towering landmark of entertaining grace with magical grounds + guest house – 3325sqm – Solar + Battery – Cellar – Pool

Deeply set amongst a weave of illustrious estates, moments to Stirling and the Mt. Lofty Botanical Gardens, Woodbury is as unique and as interesting today as its c1917 backstory.

An architectural experiment for its wealthy first owner, Tom Backhouse, this imposing yet easy to live in landmark pairs incomparable grandeur with relaxed and solar-boosted modern living that also earns a steady income from its detached and renovated cottage.

The council approved 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom guesthouse yields high-occupancy, 2-night stays all year round and would make an equally luxurious home office/studio or live-in retreat.

While paying guests remain incognito, Woodbury’s wide and inviting colonial verandah marks the spot for casual – or extravagant – events under a festoon lightshow, guiding a convoy of guests along the circular driveway.

And with a north-facing solar heated pool front and centre bathed in year-long sunlight, it’s exactly where it should be.

Ask the current custodians and they’ll tell you they bought the estate for its private botanical gardens; today, the gardens are better than ever bearing tall oaks, elms, and poplars against ornamental pears, crab apples, rhododendrons, claret ash, pistachio, wisteria, maple, and David Austin roses amongst others, competing with the ancient sequoia centrepiece.

As for the 3-storey living museum piece, every exquisite hand-laid, hand-crafted, and hand-painted detail is unparalleled poetry; set aside a lifetime to discover them all…

Details such as the random course rock face stonework, heavy stone verandah columns, timber balustrading, and soaring casement and double-hung sash windows with deep sills and no-curtains-required privacy.

You’ll awe over the formal dining room’s Tasmanian and Red Oak timber walls and architraves, its granite drinks station, and elaborate fireplace with a carved eagle insignia; across the foyer, the informal TV lounge is ideal for summer breezes, winter open fires, and anytime verandah flow through French doors.

Floorplan flexibility continues with an array of palatial rooms – case in point: the sun-bathed master wing that can readily role play as another living space alongside a dressing room/office and heritage-style ensuite with clawfoot bath.

Explore edible and sensory surrounds, a secret garden where porcini mushrooms erupt from oak and pine tree roots, a grand chook shed, fruit trees, a firepit zone, plus boundary hedging creating a safety net for ball play, even an Italianate “Grotto” for staying guests.

From the Bell Tower and beyond, we said you’d need a lifetime to discover it all. That lifetime starts now…

There’s so much more to Woodbury:
Locally significant stone manor (c1917)
Set on 3325sqm grounds
Sweeping return verandahs for large-scale entertaining
A private “Grotto” style sunlit terrace, perfect for staying guests
Mains power, Main sewer and Mains power
12kW solar (38 panels), 13kW Tesla Powerwall + micro inverters
Ducted Reverse Cycle airconditioning
3 heat banks (1 downstairs, 1 upstairs & 1 in office)
Under floor heating in Main bathroom
Thick solid masonry & stone walls well-insulated for summer
Modern eat-in kitchen with a Falcon gas stove, combustion fire & soaring windows
Original chandeliers & new lighting
Lower 2-bedroom level (registered for short-term rentals/ B and B) with a large billiard/living room, kitchenette & storeroom
2 upstairs bedrooms with a shared bathroom + enormous roof cavity for 2 more bedrooms
Rooftop “Widow’s Walk” with potential for a hills-viewing terrace (STCC)
Historic stone bell tower
Dry cellar off the laundry with new joinery + practical trade access for electrical services
Fully fenced solar heated pool
Current White Ant certificate
NBN Connected
Approx 40,000l Rainwater storage
Automated watering system thru lawns and gardens
600m to Crafers P.S. | Zoned for Heathfield H.S.
Private school bus pick-ups directly out front for Seymour, St. Peters & others
Walk to the Crafers Hotel, watch the Tour Down Under or take a 10-minute stroll into Stirling
And much more…