JOELENE LE BLANC AND NICK MALKIN HAVE CREATED A RUSTIC SANCTUARY IN NORTH-EASTERN VICTORIA.
There’s a display cabinet on the wall at Pebblebank, the holiday home Joelene Le Blanc and Nick Malkin have built at Wandiligong in the Victoria’s north-eastern high country. It contains inkwells, glass bottles and remnants of ceramics unearthed when the couple started digging the foundations for their home perched above Morses Creek, one of the early sites for gold exploration in the 1850s.
The mini museum is a reminder that the site, located on a sleepy road dotted with historic miners’ cottages with views to the Victorian alps, was once a bustling settlement of 5000 people. Morses Creek was the original name for the now thriving tourist town of Bright, gateway to the winter ski resorts of Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain and, in summer, mountain biking tracks, walking trails and cycling on the rail trail.
Having both grown up in the region — Nick’s parents ran a bar and accommodation at Mount Hotham, while Joelene represents the sixth generation of her family in the district and her mother ran a retro cafe in Bright for many years — they met after uni, where Nick studied engineering and Joelene, social work. They settled in the village of Porepunkah so their children, Archer, who is now 20, and Amelia, 16, could enjoy the same privileges of a foot-loose country upbringing. Archer is now studying business in Melbourne and has a passion for film and editing, while Amelia is still at school, taking a break from a competitive skiing career that has already taken her all round the world.
Nick came across the site for Pebblebank in 2014 when he was asked to assess it for sale as part of the engineering consultancy he now runs in Bright. “It backs onto crown land, so the block feels much bigger than it actually is,” he explains. “I did the structural and architectural design and we project managed the build ourselves in 2017.”
The house is set far enough down the sloping site to blend into the landscape and achieve their plan that people driving by might not notice it. “When we started pouring the slab, it collapsed into a mineshaft,” Nick recalls. “It was hardly surprising as these hills are full of mines. We found lots of artefacts, but sadly no gold. Perhaps it’s at the bottom of a shaft. The foundations ended up taking two concrete trucks full of cement, so the house is very firmly attached to the hill.”
The floor levels are set to respect the creek frontage and take advantage of the views. A deck covered with a pergola is shaded by vines in the warmer months and open to the sun in winter. Thanks to a combination of thermal mass from all the concrete, insulation and passive solar design, it remains warm even in the depths of winter with the aid of just one fireplace. “We wanted to create a sanctuary for ourselves, our guests and the resident wombats and roos,” Joelene says. “The garden came with a few constraints as deer and native animals like to graze there and there are always frosts, droughts and the threat of bushfires to deal with. We’ve found the key to success is to plant lots of strong-scented natives that don’t appeal to foraging animals.”
To help the structure settle better into the landscape, Nick opted to clad the building in Japanese-style shou sugi ban charred timber boards. “Wandiligong is Heritage-listed, so the house had to be timber,” he explains. “The method provides fire protection and is good for achieving a weathered look. It took about three months of weekend and lunch-break labour to do the work with a blow torch.”
Internally, Joelene, a self-described frustrated interior designer, has created a rustic, pared-back environment, with retro touches from furnishings, found objects and paintings by local artists on the walls. “We wanted to create a holiday home that we could one day live in,” she explains.
As Joelene’s mother, Diann Talbot, is a keen local historian, Nick and Joelene have a deep knowledge of the mining heritage of the area, reminders of which include a Chinese swing bridge a few kilometres upstream and the Wandi pub, first built in 1864 as the Mountain View Hotel and still going strong. “I started research for a book on mining in the Buckland Valley and discovered there was little information about the Chinese people who worked here,” Diann says. “That led to another book, called Who is She, about the local women who married the Chinese miners. People didn’t used to talk about their Chinese heritage, but now they are proud of it. In its heyday, there were four or five shanties and many shops along the road, but, as mining ran out, the population dwindled. By the 1960s, when I was growing up, it was almost a ghost town and very run down. Then the hippies came along and bought cheap housing and gradually the community has been revived. Fortunately, some buildings, including the hall and the Anglican church, have been restored.”
The exodus of city folk from Melbourne during and post-COVID injected more life into the area, not to mention initiated a spike in property prices. “We’re lucky we bought when we did, as I’m not sure we could afford to do it now,” Joelene says.
She adds that she’s looking forward to a new chapter, hosting tours with her friend and fellow local Patritzia Simone, who for three decades ran Simone’s of Bright, a restaurant and cooking school, and a beacon on Victoria’s culinary map. “The tours will be food-based with cooking classes and stays with families at agriturismos [farm stays],” Joelene says. “We’re exploring the possibility of a tour in Patti’s home region of Umbria [Italy] in 2027. We’re launching in September this year with eight days based in the Dolomites. Nick and I discovered the beautiful village of Santa Maddalena near Dobbiaco when we spent nine weeks cooking for the international racing ski team when Millie was competing.”
Joelene adds that she and Nick love getting off the beaten track and discovering places less travelled, and sharing their discoveries with like-minded people. It’s a concept they have embraced with the haven that’s Pebblebank, located in the food and wine cornucopia that is Victoria’s north-east. They’ve hosted several harvest celebrations on their deck, inviting guests to experience everything from locally grown nuts, cheeses, honey and mustard to berries and meats. “There’s so much to discover in the region, with microbreweries, wineries and distilleries, as well as fine-dining opportunities and great local produce,” Joelene says. “And we’re just three hours up the highway from Melbourne.” AC
