A LIVING HISTORY

The gardens of Westport Estate offer a living record of the estate’s rich history and the families who called it home. Today, they provide beautiful, functional and calming spaces designed for residents and visitors to enjoy.

From the original plantings by the estate’s early owners, Vereker and Nina Hamilton, the grounds were designed to offer a series of interconnected display and formal gardens with the Macedon Ranges as their backdrop. The Hamiltons' legacy can be seen in the many exotic and native trees, flowering shrubs, mature roses and daffodils adorning the Westport Estate grounds.

When Nina’s great nephew Neil Robertson inherited the estate, he also inherited his aunt’s love of gardening. He worked with the original design to create a garden worthy of exhibition in Australia’s Open Garden Scheme and shared it with many in the forty years he lived there. When Neil entrusted the Westport property to Ben Martens, Ben knew that the rejuvenation and development of the gardens was a project deserving of a very special talent. Garden designer Paul Bangay was the perfect fit.

Paul Bangay is widely regarded as the foremost garden designer in Australia today. His projects span commissions in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America and West Indies. Paul’s timeless, beautiful,outdoor spaces have been featured in countless publications, he has appeared as a guest on numerous gardening and lifestyle programs and informed a series of books. His vision for Westport Estate is to complement and enhance the natural beauty and historic charm of the estate.

A lasting legacy

The gardens surrounding the Westport Homestead were influenced by former owner Neil Robertson’s landscape planting themes and formed the framework of the village’s gardens. Paul has worked with Neil’s broad structure and enhanced this throughout the site, creating spaces that blur the boundary between building and landscape design.

The grand entrance avenue echoes the English style of the Homestead and surrounds. The mature hawthorn hedges and towering oaks have been enhanced by a vibrant mix of flowering perennials to stimulate the senses. The historic orchard and kitchen garden promote exercise and social interaction, as does the new bowling green.

An avenue of pin oaks connects the Homestead to the villas and watercourse, with native grasses and blackwood acacia providing a soft visual buffer to the formal gardens. An open woodland of mature eucalypts attracts native fauna and enhances the beauty of the estate. The flora is complemented by pergolas, shade trees, expansive lawns, water features, ornaments, seating and accessible paths; all working together to connect the garden spaces.

Paul Bangay’s design aims to preserve and enhance the historical significance and ecological value of Westport Estate for its residents and the surrounding Macedon Ranges community, now and into the future.