BEECHWORTH ACCOMMODATION THE VISION SPLENDID

Accommodation
The property features a 3 bedroom homestead and two additional adjoining 3 bed self-contained rooms (total 5 bedrooms)
This accommodates up to 15 persons. Homestead-up to 7 persons.

The 2 self-contained units- up to 4 persons each.

Bed totals  4 queen size,4 single,3 trundle=11 beds



Homestead
-Master Bedroom 1 Queen(M.B has en suite bathroom).Double glazed

-Garden/Green room 2 singles,1 trundle(shared bathroom).Double glazed

-Extra Bedroom 1 queen(shared bathroom).Double glazed

Homestead total beds 2 Queen,2 single and1 trundle=5 beds

The common bathroom will have two separate private shower rooms(one with shower over a bath-under renovation) together with the existing shared toilet and powder room
All bedrooms are double glazed for cooler summer and warmer winter nights

SELF CONTAINED UNITS
-Self-contained room 1  One Queen 1 single 1 trundle.Double glazed

-Self contained room 2  One Queen 1 single 1 trundle.Double glazed

Each self contained has a large en suite bathroom with shower toilet and vanity.

Description of rooms
-Four bedrooms feature floor to ceiling windows with views across the Ovens valley to the Victorian Alps and access to the veranda with table setting outside and ...
-the 5th cozy (Garden) room has a delightful outlook over lovely gardens and feature rock walls.
Please refer to Photo Gallery  above for pictures of facilities.

All rooms have super-comfortable mattresses with latex pillow top and quality (usually Sheridan)  and have High Definition TV with inbuilt SD USB and DVD.

The Homestead has a master bedroom (with view) queen bed and ensuite ,another bedroom with queen size bed (and view),Large built in robes.The Garden Room with 2 single beds and one trundle bed..There is a  bathroom with bath and shower for the Garden Room and the other (view) bedroom.
We have a 55 inch Smart TV installed.There is a Panasonic Blu Ray player and TV sound bar
Floodlights (energy efficient CFL or LED) now installed in the view and outdoor dining areas.Switches are located on the outside brick walls above the power points.

The 2 self-contained rooms Each has reverse cycle air conditioner, large ensuite bathroom, queen bed, single bed and trundle bed and storage for clothing and cases,bar fridge and tea making facilities.Table setting for 4 persons and view windows accessing the veranda-where there is an outdoor table setting. There is a full HD Television with inbuilt DVD also SD card(for viewing your photos) and USB game input  too! Floodlights are located outside on the view side veranda-switch above power point on brick wall between the units.
Linen Bed sheets and towels supplied and currently included in the tariff.

INTERNET We advise bringing your own WiFi dongle or using a mobile phone hotspot.There is good signal from Telstra and Optus
 (not Vodaphone)


TV Reception-is good generally with HD channels from Albury/Benalla
Homestead Heating
We have a wood fired hydronic system combined with roof mounted evacuated tubes.This is supplemented by 5Kw  electric elements within the 500l storage
Wood Heaters use a renewable resource-wood.


OPERATING THE WOODFIRE
The Australian made Metal Dynamics Gourmet Wood Fire heats the house through in-room radiator panels and also heats the Homestead hot water through an internal smoke recycling system-you cant leave the fire door open for this reason. It meets EPA air pollution requirement-one of very few wood heaters with water heating coils to do so.It can also be used as a cooktop-with 2 hotplates built in.
Fire tips
Start the fire with all air intakes open(including the ashpan door) and a mix of light kindling progressively adding larger pieces and reducing air supply.The aim is a brightly burning fire as pictured-different sizes and types of wood require different settings.Do not use very large(over 150mm diameter) pieces of wood-these will gradually just blacken then die out.

Keep a mix of small and larger sized wood in the firebox and have the right air supply to achieve the bright fire.This is achieved through the flue control at the right hand side(pushed back is fully open-but get it as closed as possible to retain heat in the fire) and the slider knob-which can be seen in the centre of the bottom panel in the pic above. The ash pan door can also be left ajar. It is below the firebox and inside the covering door and has a long lever which has to be lifted to open it.
Closing the flue lever as much as possible retains heat in the fire (to warm the radiators and hot water) to increase efficiency and slow the rate of wood consumption.It also reduces smoke and particulate pollution.

NOTE The flames should be kept below the roof of the firebox or the water coil there will become superheated and make loud banging noises.To stop these noises shut down the air supply and rearrange wood so flames do not reach the roof of the heater box. After banging subsides progressively increase air supply to a lesser level then maintain a bright fire at that lower level in the firebox.

Cooking on the fire-a trick is to make a pyramid of wood-pointing flames up to the hot plate you want to cook on to get quicker heat-e.g for porridge in the morning.

The fire and Homestead hot water Every time the fire is operated it is heating hot water in the storage tank in the ceiling by a natural thermosyphon process.This 500 litre tank also supplies the hydronic central heating radiators through the house -when the switch on the wall beside the wood heater is ON to activate the thermostat and pump which circulates water through them AND when the fire reaches the thermostat activation temperature.You can feel the radiators to guage progress.


The hot water in the homestead is also heated by day through solar evacuated tubes on the roof(102 of them).Water heated in this way is circulated by a solar panel linked via an inline 12v pump to the 500l storage in the ceiling.
 
Important notices!!!!
1.Hot water from these sources can get very hot!!! Take care with it.Children need to be supervised at all times in showers,using basins The same applies to the wood fire cast iron body-the front area including glass.
2 Please be careful closing the fire door-do not use the door to push wood into the fire or slam the door.A broken door glass is a $200 plus repair which you will be required to pay! This has happened previously.
3.No chopping wood near the house-guests have broken double gazed windows doing this-cost them $400!
 
Disability Access As the entire building (homestead and self-contained rooms) is built on a concrete slab there is only one step to manage in order to enter any part of it.We are progressively installing disability support rails at doorways in toilets and showers-also the bath in the Homestead.

Three bathrooms are also very large which allows room to manoeuvre.(Note that the toilet  in the Homestead General Use bathroom is a standard size). However the Homestead master bedroom ensuite has large spaces within it-as do the 2 Self/Contained rooms.

Kitchen
Our large kitchen includes a big electric oven with 5 gas hotplates above, a large  convection/microwave oven,dishwasher,520 litre refrigerator,red wine fridge with glass storage above and a pull-out pantry and a crockery storage cabinet.A wide range of condiments are available in the pantry.

There is a comprehensive array of cooking utensils and equipment for in-house and outdoor cooking-including mixing bowls and pizza trays and cutters.
There is plenty of cutlery and table settings for 20 people indoors (or more).

Indoor Dining
We have a formal dining setting for 6 persons and a further 8 person setting in the Family Room/woodfire area of the large open-plan lounge dining area.

Outdoor dining
We supply a 4 burner gas barbeque with a separate wok burner in the outdoor dining area on the garden side.There is now a large wood fired BBQ complex next to the outdoor dining area with 50 litre hot water boiler, herb garden and cold water supply.There are now outdoor flodlights for those balmy summer nights and a rustic table for daytime use.Chairs are available nearby at the meter board under a plastic cover

We  have a small electric spit for roasting leg of lamb,pork etc and a large stainless steel spit (accommodates a whole sheep/pig)which uses gas or charcoal and is available for special events (We need to operate it and there is a charge for hire).We can direct you for the meat purchases.There is also a bain marie and 30 litre hot water urn available for larger functions.


Wood-fired Pizza Oven  There are tools(ash scraper,pizza peel) underneath the adjacent wood fired BBQ.Wood provided.

You could make your own base or buy a pre-made pizza base or Greek or Lebanese style flat bread available at the supermarket. Fresh made tastes best!For pizza base and pizza recipes refer to our page Pizza and Woodfired spit (in menu bar above)
 This area now has a large  table seating up to 8 persons  for the full outdoor BBQ experience with the view and is ALSO  floodlit for those dreamy nights !!!There are 6 chairs under a cover next to  the meter box nearby.

You need to have a vigorous fire going for up to 3 hours before attempting a pizza. Metre long pieces of wood 25-75mm diameter can be gathered around the property and lanes nearby and pushed in as the fire burns. You move the fire away from where you are going to cook the pizzas with the ash pusher and the fire should be reaching towards the roof.Then cook on that hot (300+ deg C) base.We have laser type temperature gun to point inside to determine temperature.You can throw some flour into the cooking area and see if it browns.Or put your hand quickly inside-if its too hot to bear its ready! Tools under BBQ adjacent.

It should only take only a few minutes to cook a sizzling pizza.You also need to turn the pizzas away from the hot embers at the half way mark to avoid scorching.You could spin it inside or just remove and turn it. Also,try to avoid pushing pizzas into the hot embers which will stick on to the pizza edge.(I seem to  do this every time!!)
For me, making the fire and pizzas is a 3 glasses of red task!!!! 3 pizzas(280-300mm) can be cooked at one time.Note-the door of the pizza oven is 320mm wide and 280mm high which is the size limit for items placed inside.Pizza trays are in the storage drawers below the oven in the kitchen.

You could make up some bread or bread rolls to use the waste heat after pizza making.Try Laucke Bread Mix-available at the supermarket and follow the instructions on the packet.
Note-You need to close off the opening to cook bread, pot roasts etc using the left over heat-we just use some bricks for this 'til we get a custom door made up.
.
This is suitable for small items-2 chickens or a leg of lamb and a rolled pork roast for example-simply delicious! We include 2 sets of chicken prongs in the kit (barrel and stand, skewer, electric motor and extension lead)
Using the mini wood-fired spit
This all stainless steel spit has a 5 rpm 240 volt electric motor and extension cord.Locate the spit in clear safe spot away from winds and connect to an outside power point. You could buy a few kg of Heat Beads at the supermarket or Ecologs from Bunnings or gather some wood from our woodlot or adjacent lanes thus helping to reduce fire hazard as well.Do not use our cut firewood.
Create a fire with a hot ash bed from 25-75mm wood(same size as for pizza fire) before putting the meat and skewer on.
Start by pushing the meat-loaded skewer into the motor spindle and tighten the locating nuts.Then place the skewer on the support bracket,push and turn skewer gradually til it clicks fully into the motor connector.(Make sure this is correctly done otherwise the motor could fall off and be damaged.)Put the skewer and meat at the highest (3rd) setting above the fire and located above the best coal bed then connect the extension lead provided to a nearby power point and turn on the motor. Tighten the locking screws on the prongs!!

TIP!!! Keep some burning wood in the fire-at the sides and push it under the meat as it reduces to hot coals.Don't let flames touch the meat-this will blacken it and make it look cooked when it isn't.Have spare wood nearby.

If you have a hot coal bed with minimal flames you can lower the skewer towards the end of cooking time.Cook for 2 and1/2 to 3 hours otherwise your meat will be uncooked inside.Remember the meat will be very hot-so use dish cloth or similar to handle meat and skewer-and have a suitable  tray ready to place the meat on.Rest the meat for 10 min before carving.A bread knife works best for this .

Please thoroughly clean the prongs and skewer  after use and dispose of hot ash in a safe place Wait a while then wet it!!. Then return BBQ to its spot at the end of the house under cover.

Carefully dispose of ash when cold-next day-out of sight, in the garden away from the house.
Cooking a chicken,lamb leg or pork piece takes a good 2 and a half hours. Again-for me 3 glasses of red!!
Please clean the prongs and skewer and  return the kit in good operating condition-ensure the holding screws are still on the prongs!

The mini spit in action..Almost ready! Skewer on second setting and prongs set deep in the meat with screws tight,no flames on meat!!!!
Be careful when removing meat and skewer-its hot and heavy! You don't want it on the ground after all that care and effort!Turn off and detach motor and then lift the skewer and meats and carefully undo the prong screws.Tap the meat down while placing the skewer vertically on metal tray on a firm table. Remove and rest meat 10 minutes before carving.

WOOD FIRED BBQ/PIZZA Complex
Adjacent to the wood-fired Pizza Oven we have  a large wood fired BBQ with 3 plates and a large hot water boiler. There are fresh herbs for cooking garnishes growing in and under the BBQ structure,There's a cold water tap and a table attached to each end of the structure and connecting it to the Pizza Oven-see pics above.
NOTE- DO NOT USE THESE FACILITIES (PIZZA OVEN/WOOD BBQ) FOR BONFIRES-they are not designed for this.

The covered area and outdoor dining setting for 8 can be supplemented by additional tables and chairs from around the verandas to accommodate up to 20 persons.We also have additional tables and chairs already on site for hire (up to additional 60 persons).
This outdoor dining area has extensive lighting for night use-now including LED string lights -follow the wires to the transformer then power points to turn them on-one above the doorway, the other near the fishpond.There are two double power points and a serving table as well as the main teak dining table. It is also possible to activate our rock waterfall fishpond for the sounds of trickling water(but please turn off after use or the pond runs dry stranding our remaining 2 goldfish!) 

The setting is spectacular-with views over the Murmungie amphitheatre then the Ovens valley to the intervening foothills then the layered distant mountains.
Alternatively, sit among the gardens and lawns and rock walls-it can be secluded and intimate! Its your choice!


Events
This property in its spectacular setting is perfect for events such as small weddings, family gatherings,business and corporate meetings, executive retreats and other group functions. Quality local catering can be easily arranged -just ask us.
We have additional matching tables and chairs for 60 persons-which can easily be set in the enlarged outdoor covered entertainment area. (Maximum 60 people in total at present!)
The indoor lounge dining area can also be set up for large groups-e.g art groups, sewing groups,card players, business meetings etc using the extra tables and chairs available for hire.