The Pines, a stately mansion in Shepparton, was designed by architect J. A. K. Clarke and built for Thomas Swallow in the late 1870s.
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The house sat on a section of Shepparton Park Estate and was framed by Hawkins and Ford Rds, and Verney Rd and the Goulburn Valley Hwy.
Mr Clarke also designed our former Shepparton Post Office and some of the region’s most resplendent buildings including Ambermere Hospital where many Sheppartonians were born.
The house was sold in 1887 to the Mason brothers and when the land was split in 1890 Arthur Mason retained The Pines.
In 1898, William Stawell became the new owner until his death in 1900.
Charles Hawkins took the reins and established a renowned stud of Shropshire and Lincoln sheep on the land, and Charles along with his wife, ran the property for 35 years until 1935. The couple passed away within 10 days of each other.
Their son, Harold, and Harold’s sisters Sylvia and Lorna, then ran the farm until it was sold in 1962 to the Taig family.
Ron Taig ran cattle and later sheep and eventually developed a horse stud.
After all the activity surrounding the house for almost 100 years, the fields and homestead became silent.
In the 1960s and over the years, like most empty buildings, the once dignified home fell victim to vandalism and theft.
Like many large abandoned homes the rumours abounded that the new residents of The Pines were ghosts.
Children spoke of seeing an old lady covered in warts, a cranky gardener yielding a large shovel etc.
Whether the stories were figments of imagination or maybe true we will never know as The Pines was demolished in 1999, and the answer is now written in the wind.
But The Pines is not completely lost, as many homes in the district will carry a remnant of the past as the slate roof, bricks, wooden floors, architraves and door frames were sold for salvage.
Let’s hope the ghosts didn't relocate with them.
The Pines, along with the old post office, is now fondly remembered as a part of our “Lost Heritage”.
— Shared by Margaret Marlow, Lost Shepparton co-editor
Comments by our Lost Shepparton Facebook fans:
Rodney Brauman: My Mum said to us three kids, “Never play in the haunted house, you will never come out.” It worked. We never played there. I asked Mum years down the track, why? She said, “If I said it was dangerous you three would want to play there.” Well done Mum, you scared us.
Jonathon Jecs: As a 13-year-old my Dad wouldn't let me and a mate do Halloween there because it’s not Australian. So we snuck out and camped the night there, it was fun, nothing happened.
Heather Morris: I remember this. Shepp's very own haunted house. It took a lot of dares to get anyone in there.
Peter Szmola: I went inside twice. Once when I was 12, and at dark we heard a noise and we jumped on our pushbikes and took off. Then again, when I was about 15-16, looked like a storage place full of pipes, tiles and bricks. No drama that time. Kids I hung with used to like checking out old condemned places.
Lindy Vandermeer: I remember going into this house one night with a friend just before it was pulled down. Had heaps of character but no ghost sighting on that night.
Jacinta Murray: Sure do remember this haunted house. I remember counting all the chimneys every time we drove past it.
Leanne Munro: I remember this beautiful old home and yes we were always led to believe it was haunted, that’s why it was never touched or brought back to it’s beautiful glory.
Geoffrey Gleeson: One of the scariest times of my childhood was going to this house with a mate and my young brothers. The caretaker turned up and chased us. He caught my young brothers and hauled them of to the police station.
I was scared s******* waiting to find out what my Dad would do to me once the cops brought my brothers home.
No, not haunted. Too many inquisitive kids visiting and exploring. It was being used as storage; cupboards of machine parts, excess furniture from a local pub (including the old bar — when the pub got refurbished). Multiple rooms with fireplaces. It was almost a clubhouse hang out. Which is probably why the caretaker was so p***** off.
Jackie Clements: Imagine if money was no object, and it could have been done up. Would have made a great location for a B&B (maybe with a movie camera to record the midnight ghosts), or a lovely restaurant/wedding venue. Maybe high tea on the lawns.
Calavera Stacey Catrina: Oh I loved that place. When I was a child I always dreamed that when I grew up I would buy that place and do it up.
Linda Sorrell: What a shame. Someone should have preserved it. It’s part of our history. Why did someone not buy it and care for it? I love old houses. Breaks my heart seeing them demolished.
Margaret Ryan: I believe cattle in the paddock rubbed against the verandah posts and they fell down allowing the rain to get in under the foundations. It was a very sad and sorry end to a beautiful old home, and one with such history.
Geoff Allemand is manager of the Shepparton Heritage Centre and admin of the Lost Shepparton Facebook page. Please share your pics of the past at pastpics@mmg.com.au
Pics of the past columnist