DINGLEIGH
Ancient meaning: ‘Woodland clearing.’
Dingleigh was first settled in the 1870’s as part of the early Crown Land allocations of Victoria. These first owners hand built a two room mudbrick house with an open fireplace on the site where the main house sits today.
The pioneering years
In 1887, the Beatty family took owernship of Dingleigh, who raised eight children and developed a hazelnut and berry farm. The Beatty Family were the only educated family within several miles of Dingleigh and were often called upon to write personal letters and official documentation. Dingleigh became a gathering place for local writers and poets. Mr Beatty - affectionately known as ‘Old Doc Jones’ - also acted as the local doctor, a skill in high demand during the early logging trade of the Dandenong Ranges. Mrs Beatty was one of the first teachers at our local Sassafras Primary School. In 1901 the Beattys planted an oak tree beside the main homestead to commemorate Federation, a tree which survived 120 years until it was taken by a devastating storm in 2021.
William and Mary Beatty.
The expanding years
In 1937, the ownership of Dingleigh transferred to the Ellemor family, who demolished the mud brick house (except for the original fireplace) and built the current homestead and two new cottages, keeping the fireplace as a central part of the main home. The Ellemores also laid the garden stonework and planted the many exotic deciduous trees. The weeping holly near Dingleigh Cottage is one of only four known in Australia. The Ellemors were a prominent furrier family and kept Arabian horses on the property for almost 30 years.
Dingleigh Homestead 1940s
And through to the present
From the 1990’s Dingleigh changed owners several times until our family, who had been country hopping for almost 17 years, took up custodianship in 2014. By this time the property had fallen into considerable disrepair, so the last several years have been dedicated to a long-term restoration project. Dingleigh Cottage was the first part of this project, with the studio only recently refurbished. We hope that your stay, with us means that you can also share in a little part of the history of the beautiful Dandenong Ranges.
Dingleigh Homestead today