What lies behind the door: This old dairy has been converted into a $11MILLION luxury home – complete with a sparkling pool, a wine cellar and a bedroom voted one of the best in Australia
- An architect has transformed a historic dairy into a spectacular home filled with every imaginable luxury
- Built in 1890, the house in Armadale, 7km south-east of Melbourne CBD, was once the Lincolnshire Dairy
- Meticulous renovations by Sydney-born Stephen Varady turned it into a unique four-bedroom dream home
- Standout features include multiple sunlit living spaces, a solar-heated swimming pool and a wine cellar
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An architect has transformed a historic city dairy into a spectacular family home, filled with every imaginable luxury from a solar-heated swimming pool to a cavernous wine cellar.
Built in 1890, the house in Armadale, seven kilometres south-east of Melbourne CBD, started life as a brick shop before it was used as the Lincolnshire Dairy, which became Merriman & Sons and later Grimes Dairy.
When milk stopped flowing in the 1950s, the property was turned into an art gallery before it was meticulously converted in a two-year renovation by Sydney-born Stephen Varady between 2004 and 2006.
The result is a one-of-a-kind four-bedroom complete with multiple sunlit living areas, three hotel-style bathrooms, a designer kitchen and converted stables that once housed carthorses while they waited to schlep pails of milk.
Australian architect Stephen Varady transformed this historic city dairy into a spectacular family home
The unique four-bedroom is filled with every imaginable luxury including a solar-heated swimming pool
The original Merriman’s Dairy, run by the Merriman family from Oakleigh, in 1912
The house was a finalist in the 2008 National Architecture Awards, while the master bedroom made Belle Magazine’s Top 50 Rooms in Australia that same year.
Contemporary fixtures such as French oak floorboards, bluestone and timber finishes contrast with the traditional redbrick façade which slots into the neighbourhood as seamlessly as it did when it was constructed more than 130 years ago.
North-facing windows stream light into the kitchen, which is kitted out with a Viking cooker, polished concrete benches, a bespoke etched glass splashback and large butler’s pantry.
The house was a finalist in the 2008 National Architecture Awards, while the master bedroom (pictured) made Belle Magazine’s Top 50 Rooms in Australia that same year
The one-of-a-kind four-bedroom has multiple sunlit living area
The basement also houses a cavernous wine cellar
Glass slider doors open out onto a garden terrace, creating the perfect space for entertaining guests.
Sprawled across 574sqm, the house is more than twice the size of an average Victorian home which was 244.8sqm in 2018, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Listing agent Peter Kudelka, who is overseeing the sale of the property for real estate agency Kay and Burton, described it as a rare find in the 3043 postcode.
‘There’s not many ex-dairies around,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
North-facing windows stream light into the kitchen, which is kitted out with a Viking cooker, polished concrete benches, a bespoke etched glass splashback and large butler’s pantry
Listing agent Peter Kudelka described the property as a rare find in the 3043 postcode
Glass slider doors open out onto a garden terrace, creating the perfect space for entertaining guests
Stables have been converted into a games room
Mr Kudelka said the property is unrecognisable from its former state, with an external wall running along the east side the only original feature still standing.
‘The beauty of it is that the living areas are very flexible, there’s good space. But the property stands for itself, there’s nothing else like it,’ he said.
The house, which last sold in 1999, is on the market with a guide price of $10million to $11million (AUD), with expressions of interest closing on May 11.