Jason and Emily Paech had been living in Bendigo when they came across the historic Glen Lea homestead in Bugle Ranges, just outside of Mount Barker, and decided it was time for a lifestyle change.

Jason was chief executive of the Bendigo Jockey Club, while Emily’s work in social marketing meant she often travelled to South Australia.

“Our poor, beautiful children were kind of caught in the middle of our careers and so we had a discussion over a glass or two of red and made the decision not to go down the path of getting an au pair or a nanny to help us out,” says Jason.

“We decided we would turn life on its ear and find our perfect tree change and that’s what Glen Lea was for us.

“It’s a beautiful historic homestead – that’s first and foremost what attracted us to it. Emily has a bit of an eye for style and she was attracted to the fact that it was very much a project.”

It was a decision they didn’t regret, as eight and-a-half years later, Jason still calls it “a very magical place to live”.

Jason says his family are just the second custodians of Glen Lea, with the main house built by the Thring family around 1900.

The property retains all of its heritage buildings, including a 1940s cottage that has been transformed into a bed and breakfast and an old shearing shed, which is now used as a venue for the Paech family’s wedding business.

“We hosted some weddings for some friends and acquaintances and that then organically flowed into the wedding business we now operate out of the property,” says Jason.

The family currently host up to 20 weddings a year at the homestead and they have held about 80 weddings over the past five years.

In addition to the bed and breakfast and wedding business, the couple also raise Japanese Black Wagyu on the property.

Upon entering the main homestead, with its wraparound verandah, you will find the formal lounge and dining room to the left and one of the property’s nine bedrooms to the left.

Walking through the hallway to the back of the house, you will find the master suite, with an ensuite and spacious study.

The kitchen area has a classic aesthetic without compromising on modern amenities, while an adjoining casual dining and family room provides sweeping views of the picturesque outdoors.

The nearby 1940s cottage is entirely self-sufficient, with three bedrooms, a kitchen and living area, a bathroom and a laundry.

Jason says refurbishing and returning the property to its former glory was a labour of love.

“A fire ravaged the homestead back in 1979 and it was rebuilt in 1980. That was the aesthetic we inherited when we purchased the property,” says Jason.

“It had a yellow kitchen. It had a lot of exposed meranti timber tight through the skirting, the architraves, the windows and the joinery – it was very brown.

“The bones of the beautiful house were there – we haven’t done any major structural works – we’ve just brought it into a modern country style and that’s very much in the wheelhouse of what my wife enjoys doing.

Outdoors, Jason and Emily have enhanced the established gardens, which feature a grove of claret and golden ash trees and a large dam.

Jason says a favourite part of the house is the sunroom for its picturesque view of the property.

“Both of us really enjoy sitting down and having a cup of coffee in the morning at the breakfast table in that sunroom and when the cattle are wandering along the hillside, you can see them grazing – it is one of the most relaxing things”.

After over eight years of calling Glen Lea home, Jason and Emily will reluctantly pass the keys to a new family as they pursue new business ventures.

“It is a very magical place to live – it was a hard decision to sell,” says Jason.

The sale of 269 Long Valley Road, Bugle Ranges is being handled by Arabella Hooper and Leah Chandler of Harris Real Estate.