READ MORE: SURGEON CALL BENDIGO HOME

THE "best kept secret" in Bendigo has sold to local Vietnamese-born doctor Manny Cao.

The 26 Hopetoun Street home sits on a quarter-acre block.

Manny's parents Ut and Chinh moved to Australia from Vietnam as refugees in 1984.

The Melbourne-based couple were to pleased to facilitate the purchase.

It will give them a place to stay when they visit Bendigo.

Bidding began at $700,000 and finished with $885,000 sold to Manny Cao through his family who had him on the phone.

The sale, auctioned by Martin Skahill from Elders, drew a crowd of more than 30 people. 

He said the vendors were sad to see the property sell. 

"Serendipity" has been home for Suzanne and Rob Hosking for 11 years.

They lovingly restored the home during that time. 

Mrs Hosking said "you cannot replicate a home like this".

She said she was feeling anxious about selling her home.

She said she was relieved the auction had ended well.

She said the home was a "far cry" from what it was when they bought it.

"We carpeted the whole house, painted every wall and installed a completely new kitchen," she said.

Rob Hosking was diagnosed with cancer recently and the home's garden was a place of rehabilitation for him.