In Victorian High Country, the Opulent Riverfield Homestead Feels Straight Out of the Jane Austen Universe

You won’t need an alarm clock at Riverfield Homestead. Instead, you’ll wake to the early-morning sun pouring through the windows – and the cacophony of the resident Black Angus cows and native birds that populate the vast pastoral property.

The bucolic setting in Victoria’s High Country is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the hustle and bustle of inner-city Melbourne. But it seems much further than that, thanks to the home’s old-world English charm and its luxe trappings, which will make you feel like you’ve been transported to the idyllic country backdrop of a Jane Austen novel.

Mother-and-daughter team Jenee and Madeleine Roberts-Thomson have restored the 1970s-built farmhouse into an elegant period-style retreat (the family’s cattle farm is on the same 500-acre property) as part of their new venture Helm Hideaways, which also includes two boutique stays on Tasmania’s King Island.

The Riverfield property – which they acquired in 2020 – is near the Delatite River just outside Mansfield, a former logging town turned tourist destination. The house is surrounded by soaring oak trees and a gorgeous ornamental garden with rambling rose briars.

Inside, there are five luxe bedrooms (and cushy beds with silky-soft In the Sac linen and piles of plump pillows), an opulent old-world dining room with a long table that can fit 10 around it, four bathrooms (with heated tiles) and two lounge rooms, all featuring on-theme historic artworks and antiques sourced by interior designer Belle Hemming.

Come mealtime, the tidy town of Mansfield has plenty of good eating and drinking, including Japanese-influenced bar and diner The Fields, buzzy cafe and roastery Mansfield Coffee Merchant, hyperlocal provedore and eatery Mansfield Regional Produce Store, and Delatite Winery’s cellar door and restaurant, but we recommend picking up some produce and settling in for the evening. Riverfield’s beautifully appointed kitchen has all you need for a country-style communal feast.

Then settle by the fire with a glass of wine (there’s a bottle of local vino and some homemade cookies waiting for guests when they arrive) or a nip of port – provided in a crystal decanter, with matching glasses.

If you can tear yourself away from the house (trust us, it’ll be hard to), there’s plenty to see and do in the region; skiing is the major winter draw, but once the snow melts the landscape comes alive with blossoms and wildlife, making for some very scenic hikes and bushwalks – up Mt Buller, say, or down among the manna gums along the Howqua River. When it’s time to recharge, there’s an impressive assortment of books to read in the dreamy sunroom or by the gas fire in the formal lounge. Or roll out a blanket on the expansive lawns to take in the sounds and crisp country air before the drive back to reality.

Stays start at $1000 per night for up to four people (it’s $50 per additional guest and it sleeps up to 10), and there’s a two-night minimum.

riverfieldhomestead.com.au