One of Australia's most beautiful historic rural holdings has a tragic past.
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The storybook-style mansion of Dalvui at Terang in Western Victoria is a landmark of this nation's pastoral age.
Its majestic Federation Queen Anne two-storey, 10-bedroom and 26-room home and extensive gardens sets it apart.
For many fans, Dalvui is the pick of all the remaining imposing mansions dotted about the Western District from the heady days of the squatters.
As India's Taj Mahal was inspired by lost love, Dalvui's construction was also intertwined in romance.
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It was to be a gift for a bride-to-be, a marriage which never happened after the groom was lost at sea while travelling to bring his bride back to her new Victorian home.
More than a century later, Dalvui is still located on the rich volcanic plains at the foot of Mt Noorat where the land was taken up in 1839 by wool baron Niel Black.
The Scottish pastoralist ran stock across a 17,612 hectare property in Western Victoria in those very early days and founded a family dynasty.
He built himself a plain looking mansion at Glenormiston, which in more recent times, was sold to the Victorian government to become an agricultural school.
Following Black's death, his holdings were divided between his sons, and Dalvui was passed on to his youngest son Niel Walter Black, born in June 1864.
His brothers Archibald John and Steuart Gladstone become more prominent later in this tale.
Niel Walter was his own man and developed his extensive lands taking advantage of the abundant water supply.
He also played the local church organ and even installed a large one in Dalvui.
Lincoln sheep and Shorthorn cattle originally graced Dalvui with Niel Walter and his brothers being among the first in the region to embrace dairying.
It was more usual than now for the wealthy pastoralists to finish the education of their children back home in the UK and also encourage them to find a prospective bride.
Niel Walter's own father had done so by choosing his own bride.
The engagement
In January 1897 the engagement was announced of Niel Walter to Miss Jeannie Martin of Hawthorn in England. Niel Walter was then aged 30.
Plans for the marriage and a place suitable for a bride to live in the wilds of the new Australian colony gathered pace.
A year after the engagement Niel Walter commissioned an extensive garden from William Guilfoyle and the mansion was designed by Melbourne architects Beverley Ussher and Henry (Hardie) Kemp.
It featured white stucco, red terracotta tiles, casement windows, covered drive through entrance, blackwood timber detailing and even Prenzel carvings.
The formidable house was completed around 1910 when the garden was well established.
Today it is regarded as one of the signature gardens in the country.
As it was almost finished, Niel Walter booked passage aboard the new steamship SS Waratah back to England to be married and return with his wife.
On only its second voyage between England and Australia, the ship was travelling along the coast of South Africa in July 1909 when it was last seen - lost with 211 passengers and crew on board.
No trace of this supposedly unsinkable ship has ever been found. (The Titanic sank three years later).
The wealthy brothers of Niel Walter even offered to pay the British Admiralty to extend the search for survivors but to no avail.
Niel Walter was aged 45.
The organ so treasured by Niel Walter in Duvali's dining room was donated to Geelong Grammar School following his death.
Tragically, one of his older brothers, Archibald, was killed in a car accident only a few years later.
Steuart continued farming at Glenormiston and wrote in the Geelong school's magazine in 1915 on the occasion of the organ's donation, remembering his brother:
"After many years of suffering [from serious ill health] he seemed to be gaining a modicum of strength, and it was at this time that he started to build a house for himself," Mr Black wrote.
"The central feature that dominated the whole plan was the organ and organ chamber.
"At length, when the house was built and the organ almost in place, he made up his mind to run over to England for a few months before settling down in his new home, and he only delayed his sailing till the erection of the organ was completed and he had satisfied himself that all was right.
"It was this that determined his sailing in the ill-fated Waratah ... this organ was the one central and controlling factor, not only of his life, but in his death ..."
Ms Martin is believed to have continued living in the UK.
Since it was built, Dalvui has only changed hands five times.
It was recently held by Melbourne cardiologist Peter Habersberger and wife Pam for 26 years.
Dalvui remains a highly productive farming enterprise with its 227 hectares (562 acres).
The property also hosts a four-bedroom manager's residence, historic stables and carriage house.
The farm has a 247 megalitre irrigation entitlement and is subdivided into 28 main paddocks.
Dalvui was recently sold by Elders to an interstate buyer for an undisclosed price.
Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
