A slice of Australian history up for sale

After 76 years of Ashton family ownership, Millamolong East, the 1930s Mandurama homestead on 1814 hectares in NSW’s central west, has been scheduled for auction on September 30.

It’s been listed by Susan Ashton and her four children following the death this year of Susan’s husband, polo champion James.

Listing agent Chris Meares of Meares & Associates expects more than $7.5 million for the property.

Situated 50 kilometres from Cowra, the offering comes with the wine estate but not its renowned polo facilities.

Steeped in history, Millamolong was bought in 1934 by James Hay Ashton, one of the four brothers who took the British and American polo establishment by storm in the 1930s.

It is also rich in Aboriginal heritage, saw the gold rush and the wool boom and is bounded on its northern side by the Belubula River.

After much research by Ashton, the homestead – designed by Orange architect S.C. van Breda – was built in 1936 with earth coloured bricks quarried and fired on nearby land.

The eight-bedroom homestead was designed with protection from local winds in mind, a picturesque aspect and a north-facing outlook, along with an open verandah at the front and a series of other verandahs off the main bedrooms.

Its rooms today hold trophies and memorabilia from the family’s three generations of polo playing and equine breeding (see gallery above).

The home’s central area boasts a substantial entrance hall, grand formal sitting room with large fireplace, generous formal dining room, hardwood floors, bay windows, large breakfast room, and a kitchen with commercial facilities as well a an Aga slow-combustion stove.

The west wing holds six bedrooms, including master bedroom suite with bathroom and dressing room, a second bedroom with ensuite, 4 other double bedrooms together with bathroom facilities. The east wing has a further two double bedrooms.

There are a total of seven open fireplaces and numerous verandahs in the home as it was planned by Ashton with the seasonal extremes of weather in mind.

The grounds come with a floodlit tennis court, in-ground pool and separate accommodation for guests. The garden design was strongly influenced by the famous Edna Walling.

Millamolong remains a hive of activity, from polo-pony breeding to sheep and cattle grazing, farm-stay accommodation and its 28-hectare vineyard. The property has been hosting farm-stay holidays for the past 30 years.

The property, with Belubula River frontage and a series of natural underground springs, was settled in 1836 and remains one of Australia’s oldest working stations.

The property takes its name from what the local Aboriginal people called one of the property’s water sources – Millamolong – which literally means ‘Sick Mans Creek’. The water is now known to have a rich and unique mineral content.

Millamolong East is located in the heart of the central western region of New South Wales – approximately 16km N of the town of Mandurama, 75km S and W of the cities of Orange and Bathurst, 50km NE of Cowra and 275km W of Sydney via the Blue Mountains.

With Sally Howes