IT'S BEEN a good 15 years since anyone has fuelled up at the former Eddington petrol station.
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But Melbourne couple Dominic and Virginie Callea are putting the station back on the radar for locals and travellers.
People are once again stopping off at this site on the Bendigo-Maryborough Road, albeit for a different kind of sustenance.
Last October the Calleas opened the old petrol station as Septembre Vintage, an antique and collectables shop with a distinct industrial European style.
Virginie is from a small town on the north eastern side of France. She and Dominic met while he was working in Germany.
Together they’ve brought an infusion of French/German style to tiny Eddington, all thanks to the petrol station.
“We like old petrol stations,” Virginie said.
“We wanted something different to a normal shop and we found this one for sale online.”
The Eddington site was one of just three former petrol stations for sale in the state at that time, the others in Stawell and Belgrave.
“We came to see it and we bought it on the day, we didn’t know the area,” she said, adding they already love it here.
“When people realise I’m French they say they’d like to live in France and they don’t understand why I’m here.
“I like it. There’s more freedom here, even to start a business it’s easier than in France. And there’s charm here too.”
Virginie said their children have enjoyed a summer swimming and fishing in the nearby Loddon River.
The petrol station had been a private residence for the past ten years.
Many of the former businesses and public buildings of Eddington are now homes, including the former police station, post office and primary school.
“I think the community was shocked at first,” Dominic said, when they painted the red and yellow building a chic white and black.
“After years and years of seeing the same thing they were really happy to see it come alive again.
“Now they can’t wait for the coffee to come.”
This week Dominic and Virginie welcomed a cool red coffee machine into the shop and will soon add Brewhouse coffee and cake to the business.
The antiques, however, take centre stage in this light-filled space overlooking a classic rural central Victorian vista.
“The style is very eclectic. It’s what we like – pieces we would have in our own home,” Dominic said.
Septembre Vintage is open today and tomorrow from 10am to 5pm, and every second weekend thereafter.