December 17th, 2025Dry Diggings historic property tree change
Three years ago Samantha and Ned Palay made a tree change, from Mornington on the Mornington Peninsula, to Central Victoria, buying historic Frog Hollow Estate.
The property is on the Castlemaine Road at Dry Diggings and has had a number of iterations from the homestead built 130 years ago to cottages originally built for miners and later used for visitor accommodation.
Samantha and Ned, both in construction, bought the property in 2022 after deciding they wanted their own project to work on that would give back to people. “We wanted to create something that people want to come to and enjoy,” Sam said.
“We were looking for different things and as soon as we drove into this place, we thought this is special, there’s something about this place. Everyone that comes here, it’s almost like you forget about everything else that’s going on in your life.
“You come here and all your stress just alleviates. We just thought it’s a beautiful place for weddings and events, for people to gather.
“We’re big on family and we wanted a place where families can get together. Families can just have a space where kids can run.”
Ned said the couple had arrived with the vision of restoring the property and “of giving it its life back”.
“We’re restoring its potential. And because we’ve got the engineering/building background and we’re later in age we just wanted to have a project where we can sort of wind up and give it our all and hopefully potentially retire on it.”
Samantha said there were days when the couple stepped back and thought ‘wow, it’s amazing’ and other days then they went ‘what the hell are we doing’ but it had been a great journey and was coming together.
“We’re at the pointy end now and we’re proud of it because we have been a part of every single element. We feel like we’ve made it our own now.”
Also helping with the restoration is stonemason Marcus Glue.
The Hepburn resident started out studying architecture but turned to stonework and finished his apprenticeship in 2002.
“When I didn’t finish my architecture degree I deferred and went and lived in Broome for a year on an Aboriginal reserve. I spent a lot of time travelling up through the Kimberleys, and there’s just rock everywhere up there. And then I drove back home from there on my own, back through the Tanami, and the whole time I was thinking ‘I’m going to quit uni when I go back and I’m going to get an apprenticeship, and that’s what I did’.
“During that time I lived overseas, working in Ireland and Italy and moving around a fair bit, and then I came back here and I’ve been doing other things for a long time, but mostly stonework. I do it just for the love of it, I’m a tragic old soul.”
Marcus said stonemasonry was still happening and many stonemasons were keen to pass the trade on to the next generation. It also keeps the 50-year-old fit, healthy and grounded.
“I’ve got a fast brain too and that’s important. It’s good for a brain that’s got to figure out shapes all the time and needs that stimulation, like a spectrum-y brain, which I’m happy to admit I’ve got. I’ve come and gone from this trade over the years and I’ve never felt more grateful and attached to it because of how it’s allowing me to stay grounded in my life.”
Words & images: Kyle Barnes
