Fingal: the hidden gem blending the best of coast and country living

You’d be forgiven for thinking you need to be golf-mad to call Fingal home.

Playing host to the Moonah Links and St Andrews Beach golf clubs, this small Mornington Peninsula community has more greens than main roads.

But while Kay & Burton Flinders agent Andrew Hines agrees the area is a golfer’s paradise – there are, in fact, 18 golf courses on the Mornington Peninsula – he says Fingal’s central location is one of its key drawcards.

“It’s 15 minutes from Portsea and Sorrento and about 20 minutes from Flinders and Red Hill,” Hines says.

“So for a lot of people who move here, it offers flexibility for where friends and family might be, and what they might do when they’re down here.

“The wineries and bushwalks aren’t far away, you’ve got sailing and beaches, and it goes without saying that you’re surrounded by all of the golf courses.”

Country meets coast

Retired builder Homer Koster chose Fingal for its country-like ambience.

“We have lovely country views in Fingal – we don’t look over the golf course, but out over farmland and our one neighbour is hidden behind trees,” he says.

“Every day we count the cattle roaming around. It’s a lovely place to live; you do feel like you’re in the country away from it all.”

Koster splits his time between a Melbourne apartment and the peninsula, spending two to three days in the city each week.

This, Hines says, is a popular approach taken by residents, who become enamoured of the lifestyle and want to spend more than just weekends on the peninsula.

“What we’ve learnt in the last 12 months is how to work successfully from home and that we don’t need to travel so much,” he says.

“People are only travelling into town two or three days a week and [that has] turned the Mornington Peninsula into an economy open all year round.”

Growing amenity

Hines says there’s very little on offer in Melbourne that you can’t get down on the peninsula, from live music, great pubs and restaurants to art galleries, day spas and nurseries.

This month an impressive $37 million aquatic centre, Yawa, opened in Rosebud, and popular pizzeria 400 Gradi has just opened a sprawling venue in Main Street, Mornington, with a restaurant, bar, gelateria and delicatessen.

Of course, the region’s growing popularity means real estate stock across the whole of the peninsula is in high demand, and the limited number of properties is driving prices north.

“It’s a real luxury when you’ve got the flexibility of being able to own a property on the peninsula, work from home and enjoy the lifestyle,” Hines says.

One to watch

Set on a 1318-square-metre block within the Moonah Links Estate, this striking home at 12 Lahinch Drive, Fingal, has panoramic views over the rolling fairways. It comes with a designer kitchen, two main suites and a north-west-facing mineral pool, fire pit and day bed.

Kay & Burton Flinders’ Andrew Hines is selling the home with a $2 million-$2.2 million price guide.

SOLD - $2,075,000

12 Lahinch Drive, Fingal VIC 3939

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