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Have you ever wondered what lay behind those big hedges bordering Dame Nellie Melbas property in Coldstream....... more than 20 Rotarians, their partners, family and friends found out when they attended a Red Cross fundraiser held at Dame Nellies estate last Wednesday 15 March. Dame Nellie was a big supporter of the Red Cross and raised a lot of money for them in her day. Dame Nellie bought the property in 1912 and named the cottage "Coomb Cottage" after what she lived in England - she gradually extended the cottage to a 9 bedroom house. It has a very big garden which includes a vegie patch and a whole heap of fruit trees along with some very large, elderly trees. The property also has Victoria's oldest swimming pool (from 1913!). After Dame Nellie died in 1931, her Grand daughter Lady Pamela Vestey lived in the property until she died in 2011. The property was pretty much as Dame Nellie had left it. The property then passed to Dame Nellies 2 great grandsons - Lord Vestey and his brother. They decided the property needed to be self sustaining so turned the stables into a restaurant and created a shop and gallery. The estate also has its own vines and produces wine under the "Coomb Estate". The gardens have only been open to the public since 2014 and the house since 2016. The house is lived in by the estate manager and the Vestey family stay there when they visit from England. We had a lovely meal which included Peach Melba for dessert!. Sue W won a couple of bottles of wine in the raffle; Kevin T won a book - "100 years of the Red Cross"! Overall a fine time was had and all for a good cause. |
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