Central Victoria's cutest cottage, Musk Farm sold pre-auction
Musk Farm, the much-admired central Victorian cottage masterpiece, has found its next owner in pre-auction negotiations.
They paid $2.41 million.
The home was associated with the late interior designer Stuart Rattle when it came with a derelict garden overrun with blackberries on its 1.2 hectare parcel.
Rattle transformed the home before his untimely death, in 2013, with it then sold through executors for $1.59 million in 2014.
This time round Paul Caine of Caine Real Estate had initially expected a sale of around $2 million.
Stuart Rattle had actually been reluctant to buy the property in the late 1990s when he and good mate, the landscape gardener Paul Bangay undertook their first inspection.
He thought it looked like a municipal park with too much asphalt, but returning at twilight Rattle sensed the potent opportunity.
He arrived at the later opinion that the home was at its best in late afternoons.
He created a compact cottage after installing lower ceilings and its paintwork created the rich, moody and broody feel that he had once seen at florist Kevin O'Neill's Mount Macedon retreat.
