Places To Visit

A Visit to Ziebell’s Farmhouse!

early settlers, Thomastown, Ziebell's Farmhouse

Having lived in Melbourne for nearly 2 decades, we have done most of the tourist attractions and the lesser known family attractions within a short 2 to 4-hour round trip by car. So it’s quite amazing that we find hidden gems to explore every now and then.

Googling for places to visit recently, we learnt of Ziebell’s Farmhouse Museum and Heritage Garden which is a unique attraction located in Thomastown’s Westgarthtown Pioneer Precinct. That’s not too far from the city, so off we went, and discovered a hidden gem amongst modern homes.

It was a short drive to the site and we were greeted by very enthusiastic volunteers when we arrived. With a small fee of $8.00 per person, we got to join a guided tour of the farmhouse and to listen to the many stories of this family that came over by boat.

Ziebell’s Farmhouse Museum and Heritage Garden

Ever wondered how life was for the early settlers that came to Victoria? We all know that most came during the gold rush era hoping to strike it rich, but there were those that came for other reasons too.

Back in the 1850s, the Victorian government was already actively looking into getting people from as far away as Germany to migrate to Melbourne. The Germans were seen to be industrious. One such family that came over was the Ziebell clan consisting of the parents and 9 kids.

They settled in Thomastown, built up their dairy farm, farmhouse and other outhouses on the site, such as, a barn, smoke house, bathhouse. Initially, they lived in a 5-room house but as the family grew, the adult children built their own independent homes nearby within the massive site. We particularly loved the beautifully maintained cottage garden. Today their home has been turned into a museum. There is even a private cemetary on the grounds only for members of the Ziebell family.

The farmhouse built using local bluestone and typical German design:

Pura Milk

Our guide told us the Ziebell family started the Pura Milk brand. Initially, they opened Pura Diary in Preston to sell the milk produced at the farm in Thomastown (previously the site was known as Westgarthtown).

Subsequently, it was sold to National Foods where Pura became Australia’s first national milk brand. Since then, the Pura Milk brand has passed through several ownership changes, including San Miguel and Japan’s Kirin Holdings. In 2021, Bega Cheese acquired Lion Dairy & Drinks (the last owner of Pura), so the Pura Milk brand is now Australian owned once again.

Thoughts About Our Visit to Ziebell’s Farmhouse Museum and Heritage Garden

We wholeheartedly recommend going to learn about the lives of the early immigrants and the hardships they endured to make Melbourne what it is today.

Some of the lessons we took away were how much easier our lives are now in modern Melbourne compared to the old days. While there is always room for improvement, modern conveniences such as clean running from our taps, sewage systems, heating and cooling, take-away food and semi-prepared food available from supermarkets makes our lives much easier than in the 1800s.

Running water, electricity, gas, and sewerage were not connected to the Ziebell homestead during the family’s continuous stay right up until 1972!

We learnt that in the past, women had to start preparing breakfast the day before. This included kneading bread and letting them rise overnight, so that they could be freshly baked for the entire family’s breakfast the next day.

Baths were also challenging, especially in winter, as they had to get water from the well, then carry buckets of water into the bathhouse to be heated up for the family to take turns for their baths. Subsequently, they also installed a deep underground tank that collected rainwater from the roof.