“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure dome decree.” So wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge from a dingy, cramped, mouse-infested cottage in south-west England in 1797. His verses evoke sacred rivers, fertile grounds and gardens bright with sinuous rills—a lyrical world beyond the inauspicious reality of its start-point.
Such is the power of the imagination. So much so in fact, that echoes of that mythical landscape unexpectedly exist today outside a town three hours due north of Melbourne, Australia.
Swap Kubla Khan for a Melbourne businessman. Xanadu for 260 rural acres on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. And today’s version of poetic paradise appears before your eyes.
Outside the dusty settlement of Bearii, amid an otherwise barren landscape, a green oasis has emerged. Here, a visionary Melbourne family has spent two decades transforming a humble farmstead into a stately pleasure dome of sorts, one that satisfies modern appetites.
From dusty paddock…
The story of this estate began when the original owners transported two period buildings from Melbourne to a sleepy farm town along the Murray River. One structure was once the Mornington Art Gallery, the other a charming weatherboard home affectionately known as Clarendon Eyre. That name remains today as a nod to the property’s storied past.
“It was a dusty paddock with a house on it,” recalls Josh Miller, who grew up here alongside his three siblings. In those early days, camping on the banks of the Murray River and riding dirt bikes along the winding trails were everyday adventures.
One day, Josh’s father, Ken, returned home with a box of golf balls purchased on eBay. “We used to hit balls out into the bush and then thought, ‘Why don’t we hit further down the paddock?’” he recalls. That playful experiment evolved into something very surprising indeed, a unique one-off that sits at the heart of the property today: a meticulously maintained five-hole private golf course reverentially modeled on the refined fairways and pristine turf of Augusta National Golf Club, where the Masters Tournament welcomes pros and amateurs each year. Such is the power of the imagination.
Maintaining this private course is no small feat. Painstakingly cultivated Santa Ana Couch fairways and manicured Mackenzie Bentgrass greens as per Augusta are tended daily by two full-time groundskeepers. Every few months, a bucket of crystals preserves the mesmerizing turquoise hue of the ornamental lake. Thanks to pumping rights off the Murray River, a continuous flow of water keeps this green sanctuary sparkling against the rugged Australian backdrop. “This doesn’t happen overnight,” says Josh Miller. “If someone decided to build this from scratch, it’d take at least ten years.”
Beyond the fairways, the estate caters to every whim: an Olympic-size inbuilt trampoline, a 22-meter heated swimming pool, spa, firepit and tennis court. A ten-car garage, machinery shed and commercial laundry (another surprise) take care of the necessities of life.
Indoors, a complete gut renovation has yielded a seven-bedroom, five-bathroom home replete with cinema and state-of-the-art automation. The Control4 smart technology and Sonos sound system, controlled from your iPhone, let you dial in the perfect temperature and cue up some Aussie country rock before you coast down the paved driveway past the native red gum trees.
…to a venue with vision
Part of what makes this modern Xanadu so enticing is its revenue-generating potential, notes listing agent Nathan Verwoert of Private Property Global. The estate is already a sought-after wedding destination, with hires raking in about AUD $50,000 (USD $31,300) per weekend. It has hosted several high-profile celebrations, including the wedding of Josh Miller to Steph Claire Smith, a Forbes 30 Under 30 fitness-technology entrepreneur. Their journey began on these very grounds, where the couple first met as children and later became engaged on the same property.
Other opportunities extend beyond weddings. Hence the commercial laundry. With its picturesque backdrop and expansive grounds, the estate has hosted corporate lunches, fundraisers, retreats and conferences. A short 45-minute helicopter ride from Melbourne lands you on these secluded grounds, far removed from city life. For purchasers with farming in mind, additional acreage on the eastern side presents the option to extend the property into a cattle-raising venture.
It’s a world away from 18th century England, but back in 1797 when Samuel Taylor Coleridge subtitled his poem, the phrase he chose was “a vision in a dream”. The visionary Miller family created their own dream, and the modern Xanadu of Clarendon Eyre is now on the market for AUD $8 million (US $5.2 million) through Forbes Global Properties Private Property Global.
Forbes Global Properties Private Property Global is a director member of Forbes Global Properties, an invitation-only network of top-tier brokerages worldwide and the exclusive real estate partner of Forbes.
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