What's on the For Sale sign?

Historic property Kout Narin is for sale. An interesting aspect is the variant spellings of Kout Narin, from - Koot Narin, Koot Nareen, Kout Norien, Court Nahring, and the homestead area as Second Kout Narin.

The homestead in 1980, from the National Trust

Kout Narin on the banks of the Glenelg River near Harrow was originally taken up in 1840 by Thomas Norris as a 400,000 acre pastoral run. This was one of the largest of the early pastoral holdings in the colony at Port Phillip.

Edward Willis & Charles Lambert Swanston (Charles’ father and Edward’s father-in-law was Captain Charles Swanston a colonial merchant and banker after whom Swanston Street in Melbourne was named) acquired Kout Narin station in October 1846 as ‘The Glenelg River Grazing Company’. Later in April 1848 they subdivided it into Kout Narin and Kadnook. (Kadnook was subdivided into Kadnook and Buckle Kupple in August 1857, then Kadnook further broken up into Kadnook and Tallangour in August 1864, Tallangour was divided into Tallangour and Lake Paddock in April 1874.) Kout Narin was further subdivided in September 1852 into Chetwynd and Pigeon Ponds (Moree) and again in September 1859 divided into Chetwynd, Mooree (or Pigeon Ponds), Koolomurt and Wellat(t). Willis and Swanston retained a part known as Koolomurt in 1859. Swanston kept Mooree in 1859. At Koolomurt, Willis formed one of the finest merino studs in Victoria. 

The Woolshed above Salt Creek, 1974 from SLV

Second Kout Narin was part of the original Rickett’s Run or Longlands. It was first occupied in April 1840 as ‘The Glenelg Sheep Establishment’. Thomas Rickett occupied it from 1843. Ricketts Run was broken up into Clunie, Longlands and Second Kout Narin. Second Kout Narin was on the right bank of the Glenelg. A two-room slab house with a shingle roof was erected in 1846.

The original slab cottage in 1980, from the National Trust

 In 1855 Richard Brown Broughton leased Kout Narin Station from Thomas Hamilton, where he subsequently erected the woolshed and the colonial homestead, integrating the early stone house of c1848. Broughton got the freehold for the Second Kout Narin property in June 1863. He changed the name from Kout Narin to Kout Norien.

From the curving driveway towards the rectangular house with a shallow flight of steps leading up to verandah, past garden beds, taken by an unknown photographer some time during the 1960s, copyright is undetermined, from SLV

 The early colonial style rectangular plan homestead of brick and stone with distinctive roof form, glazed verandah and colonial regency details was built in 1855 with the second storey portion added at a later date. The stone was quarried on the property. The homestead was placed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 1959, and the outbuildings added in 1980.

The stone-rubble stables with latticed openings, 1980 from the National Trust

The stone-rubble cookhouse, 1980 from the National Trust

Enclosed homestead verandah

   
The associated outbuildings, slab hut and slab woolshed, form an important pastoral station group, and are examples of early vernacular construction methods.

The following set of photographs was taken by John Collins in the 1970s, and are from the J.T. Collins Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.

The homestead

The homestead showing the quoins around the doors

The timber slab woolshed and its split picket sheep yards with the pickets wired together. Although dilapidated the woolshed is still in use.

The stone-rubble cookhouse and adjacent meat-house

Kout Narin is to be auctioned on Friday 12th September in Hamilton and is expected to reach $1.3-1.5 million.