A YAPEEN mudbrick homestead from the 1800s has been demolished, with neighbours commiserating the loss of the historical building.
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Owner Mike Tolland said the Mount Alexander Shire Council had ordered him to pull down the homestead, at Vaughan Springs Road, on safety grounds.
"Of course it's a shame that it had to be demolished," he said.
"But it was in a state of collapse and the council determined it was too dangerous to keep.
"It was 50 metres from the road and small children and drivers would come in and take a look every day. If it had fallen down, it would have killed them.
"I didn't want to pull it down, but it became necessary."
While Mr Tolland did not want to get into the history of the homestead, he said a small portion of it would remain.
"There was a lot of interest in it and I will leave a little bit of it standing and erect a sign so the history isn't erased completely," he said.
Neighbour Lorraine, who did not want her last name used, said it was a real shame the homestead had been demolished.
"It was one of the only ones left in this area," she said.
"There is a lot of history in this region and in the gold mining days, Yapeen was very busy.
"I have seen a lot worse houses than this one and it could have been cleaned up and saved. But now it's gone for good."
It could have been cleaned up and saved but now it's gone for good.
- Lorraine