Inside the grand Canowindra homestead 'built to stand the test of time'

Once clear of the Blue Mountains, the undulating tablelands of central NSW unfold to sweeping fertile swathes of cereal and vegetable crops, orchards, vineyards and broad pastoral tracts … and an open road heading west.

Push beyond the large country centres of Bathurst and Orange and another world reveals itself of small, quaint historic villages, each with a distinctive character and story to tell – like the gold mining town of Sofala and picture-postcards of Millthorpe and Carcoar.

Here, too, is Canowindra (pronounced ka-nown-dra, if you’ve any hope with the locals), another verandahed gold mining settlement that could easily be cast as the set for a period Australian drama. Cue Bryan Brown.

This is touring country, a land of plenty offering weekends spent grape grazing the Cowra and Orange wine regions as well as exploring food trails, culinary festivals and museums telling of pioneering days, escapades of bushranger Ben Hall and a prehistoric past when the fish ruled.

Nestled between the Lachlan and Belubula rivers, Canowindra is also known as the hot-air ballooning capital of Australia, home to an annual international festival every April.

On Rivers Road between Canowindra and Cowra lies Killarney Homestead, resting on 7.78 hectares.

Behind automated gates, up a straight-cum-circular paved driveway sits a grand ranch-style house surrounded by manicured gardens, white post-and-rail fencing and productive farm acreage beyond, perfect for grains crops like barley and lucerne hay.

Garages for three cars bookend the building.

With the gleaming white facade, terracotta-tiled roofing and centre dome, the building is reminiscent of a hacienda, the main house associated with sprawling landed estates found in the Spanish-speaking world.

Originally, the property was part of a far larger landholding of more than 300 hectares of fertile red loam soil, owned by the Honan family, which today oversees a large agribusiness empire.

In 1986, family patriarch, the late Jack Honan, built the five-bedroom, six-car homestead for himself and his wife, reportedly for about $4 million, a huge sum at the time.

No expense was spared in its construction and fit-out. It is a sprawling house that was built to a superior level on reinforced concrete foundations.

There is no mistaking you’re arriving somewhere stately and special. You gain a similar sense the moment you enter the foyer from the porte cochere.

Here is a striking rotunda, featuring a sunken lounge and a spiral staircase to a mezzanine library ringing the curving wall (hiding an attic), under a red cedar-clad domed roof.

From it hangs a 24-carat gold-plated Italian chandelier above a round granite table. Monumental.

The rotunda rises between the house’s two wings.

Right is a lounge, main bedroom with en suite featuring lavish sunken Roman bath, bidet and urinal and gold-plated tapware.

Left includes a family room, three further bedrooms and a second garage.

As well, galleries run the full length of the front of the house, giving the rest of the interiors breathing space. Inhale.

At the rear, a meditative sunroom looks across the garden and paddocks. Exhale.

The house was also fitted out with all the assorted bells, whistles and high-end gadgetry available at the time.

They are things we take for granted 36 years down the track but were leading edge back then.

Among them a Leicht kitchen with Gaggenau appliances, Villeroy and Boch sanitaryware, Bell and Howell projector and Bang & Olufsen integrated sound system, as well as underfloor heating, imported carpet and tiling, satellite TV and leather bedheads.

“It was built to stand the test of time,” says selling agent David Medina, director of rural services for Sotheby’s International Realty.

That it surely has.

For Sale

'Killarney' 1237 Rivers Rd, Canowindra NSW 2804

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In fact, walk into the property and it is virtually untouched from when the Honans lived in it.

The current Sydney-based owners purchased the property at the start of 2005 as a weekend getaway and base from which to keep an eye on other business interests in the area.

In the end, they stayed only infrequently and made necessary functional and cosmetic upgrades, which included adding the front fountain, an olive grove and fruit and nut orchards (although the property easily lends itself to a larger refresh without losing any of its original gloss).

“Nothing much has changed [since we bought the property],” say the owners.

“It’s like time stood still. It’s like a time capsule.”

Medina takes the home to auction on December 6 with a guide of $2.75 million.

This feature is part of a Domain Deluxe package.