King of the Hunter Valley

Baroona, the striking High Victorian residence at Whittingham, near Singleton, has been listed for sale. The 26-room house with observation tower has been listed by Colin and Judy Peterson, of Mount View's Petersons Wines. Baroona was known as Rosemount when the initial house was built by pastoralist John Lanarch in 1829. It expanded into a home of 1115 sq m with a Benjamin Backhouse design after it was bought in 1869 by Albert Dangar, the son of Henry Dangar, the government surveyor. In the 1880s, architect John Horbury Hunt designed a service wing and stables, which stabled two-time Melbourne Cup winner Peter Pan. The spiral staircase and tower were designed by architect Frederick Menkens in the 1890s. The upstairs main suite opening to the verandah has a sitting and dressing room and en suite built in 1920 when the Prince of Wales, later King Edward the 8th, was a visitor. Baroona sits on 33 hectares with Mudie Creek running through the property, set about 20 kilometres from the Hunter vineyards. It has been listed through Alan Jurd at Jurd's Real Estate Cessnock in conjunction with Max Bailey First National, with $3 million-plus hopes.

Small prints in the sand

Daniel Scott plans an eco-friendly long weekend on the Mid North Coast with all-age activities.

The stone age

STEVE MANFREDI raises a Bellini to toast summer's finest peaches.

Weekender

eat PORTE‘O