Kimbal Baker

Great Properties of the Riverina and Upper Murray follows on from the bestselling Great Properties of Country Victoria and Great Properties of Tasmania, and tells the story of sixteen significant properties in the region. Illustrated throughout with sumptuous photographs, it showcases estates from the rolling green hills of the Upper Murray, where campfire tales are still told about the exploits of the Man from Snowy River, to the vast plains of the Riverina region to the west. Many readers will recognise landmark properties along the Murray (Tom Groggin, Tintaldra, Tooma Station and Khancoban Station), south of Holbrook (Upper Wantagong and Woomargama Station), the region around Corowa (Quat Quatta, Moroco West and Collendina) and the northern Riverina (Nap Nap, Tupra, Burrabogie and Boonoke). Some have stood since the middle of the nineteenth century, when fortunes were made and lost as farmers tried to make a fist of the capricious grazing land west of the Great Dividing Range. Great Properties of the Riverina and Upper Murray details the extraordinary origins of these places and their many transformations as generations of inhabitants battled drought, flood, pestilence and market collapse, as farmers tried different crops and breeds of sheep and cattle. It was the development of the Merino at Wanganella in the Riverina that opened up worldwide markets for wool. Little wonder that, for three decades, the face of a famous ram at Uardry adorned the Australian one-shilling coin. Great Properties of the Riverina and Upper Murray brings these estates to life in all their grandeur to tell stories of adaptation and change, and reveal their owners' and occupants' ambitions and dreams.

The Western District of Victoria. Even the name conjures up establishment families, history and grandeur. Extending from the Grampians region in the south-west of the state to Geelong in the east, and stretching as far north as Ararat, The Western District some of the most productive land in Australia and some of its most renowned homesteads and gardens. In this revised edition of Richard Allen and Kimbal Baker's fascinating and beautiful book, we are taken into the private world of twenty of these most notable properties. Through their early histories we follow their fortunes and see the splendour of these great homes. It is a tribute to the past, when elaborate mansions and grand gardens were established, and to the present, with owners who have so lovingly preserved their properties' architectural heritage. The new edition of this bestselling title brings the history of the estates up to date, including five fully revised chapters, with new photography scattered throughout.

When celebrated English novelist Anthony Trollope toured Australia 150 years ago he described Tasmania as the 'beautiful island, the sweetest in climate, the loveliest in scenery, the richest in harbours and rivers'. It is easy to see why the early settlers, hailing mainly from the British Isles, felt so much at home there; it is the Australian state closest in geography and climate to the northern hemisphere lands that they knew. They settled and built significant Georgian mansions from local sandstone and set about growing and selling wool to insatiable international markets. In Great Properties of Tasmania, Richard Allen and Kimbal Baker take readers inside eighteen private estates - from the rich Midlands region to the northwest, along the Fingal Valley in the east and to the south of the island. They explore the histories of the families who have lived there and describe the farming practices that today's generations employ. Many properties are owned by sixth- and seventh-generation farmers, and most continue to run sheep and cattle, while others are involved in different markets: whiskey and gin distilling, wine-making and growing poppies, fruit and vegetables. Great Properties of Tasmania is a celebration of key rural estates in Australia's smallest, most tightly held and arguably most beautiful state.

Australia's First Families of Wine celebrates eleven of Australia's most iconic and important wine families and the vineyards and businesses they have built. With more than 5,000 hectares under vine, the families operate in sixteen wine-growing regions around Australia. They make many of Australia's most distinctive wines and all are household names: Brown Brothers, Tahbilk, Campbells, Yalumba, Henschke, d'Arenberg, Jim Barry, Taylors, McWilliam's, Tyrell's and Howard Park. Australia's First Families of Wine showcases the colourful histories of these spectacular vineyards and historic buildings, exploring the wine industry's transformation into an export-earning powerhouse and detailing the challenges of taking old family businesses into the 21st century.

English novelist Anthony Trollope described Victoria's Western District squatters in the 1870s as 'plentiful, proud, prejudiced, given to hospitality, impatient of contradiction, thoughtful on the future, and above all, conscious, perhaps a little too conscious, of their own importance. Forty thousand sheep cannot be shorn without a piano; twenty thousand is the lowest number that renders napkins at dinner imperative'. The Western District today retains most of the renowned homesteads and gardens that date from these times. This fascinating and beautiful book;sequel to the bestselling Great Properties of Country Victoria takes us into the private world of twelve more notable properties. Through their early histories we follow their fortunes;extraordinary tales of hardship, risk and reward;and through the photographs see the splendour of great homes that have been lovingly and carefully maintained and restored. It is a tribute to the past and present owners who have so painstakingly preserved their properties' heritage.