history of bushranger’s heroics helps sell Avenel house

The couple snapped up 26 Henry St, Avenel for an undisclosed price in the mid-$400,000 range, after the notable property had spent about six months on the market.

It most recently had a $440,000-$470,000 price guide.

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Janelle Puppa Real Estate selling agent Bonnie Gaehl said the buyers planned to “restore the property over time” — a process started by the vendor, history buff Margaret Lindsay-Field.

The property dates back to the 1850s, when it was a store, and is now considered historically and architecturally significant to Victoria.

The Victorian Heritage Database states it operated as the thriving Royal Mail Hotel from 1857-1903, earning the nickname “The Coach House” for being a stopover for Cobb & Co coaches carrying mail and passengers from Melbourne to Beechworth and Sydney.

Ned Kelly came on to the scene in the 1860s, when he rescued the seven-year-old son of hotel owners Esau and Margaret Shelton from the flooded waters of nearby Hughes Creek.

The Sheltons rewarded Kelly, also just a boy at the time, with the green silk sash he would later wear underneath his armour during his last stand at Glenrowan in 1880.

The property has also been a boarding house, residence, and bed and breakfast.

Ms Lindsay-Field bought it about eight years ago, when it was in a “pretty unliveable state”, family friend Dean Gardiner told the Herald Sun in December.

“I could fit my head through some of the holes in the walls,” he said.

The pair retained the house’s rare Georgian architecture and handcrafted period interior, but installed a new bathroom, new wiring and plumbing, and painted the walls.

It’s set on almost 2000sq m of land and features 12 rooms, four of them living spaces with fireplaces, and an underground cellar.

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samantha.landy@news.com.au