Positioned on a high point on the beautiful banks of the Mary River stands this majestic water front home with 8000m2 of lawns and gardens surrounded by picturesque parkland.

Baddow House was built in 1883 by Edgar Thomas Aldridge, the founding Father of Maryborough. Christened Aldridge’s Castle by some locals, it was Aldridge’s Folly to others: a grand, two-storey home with huge rooms, soaring ceilings (14 ft), an abundance of cedar joinery and panelling, six fireplaces, and wide verandahs upstairs and down.

When Aldridge arrived in the Maryborough district in 1848, he lived in a bark and shingle hut on his land at Baddow but, thirty-five years after his arrival, success as an entrepreneur allowed him to build his dream home, his castle, the magnificent Baddow House as it stands today.

Since then the house has lived through many incarnations. It was used as a school during the war, a scout hall in the 1950s, and after that a reception centre for parties and functions. Many people in Maryborough today have memories of weddings and celebrations enjoyed at Baddow House.

The current owners bought Baddow House in 2003 and, sparing no expense, undertook a complete restoration and renovation of the property.

Baddow House is a two-storey Victorian villa, totalling 896 m2 under roof, built during the Victorian era but in the Georgian style, with the addition of wrap-around verandahs upstairs and down as a concession to the Queensland climate. The exterior and interior walls are triple brick, rendered. Floors are crows ash and hoop pine, and all of the joinery (including doors, panelling, architraves, skirting boards and the original staircase) is red cedar. There are six fireplaces (three upstairs, three downstairs), internal archways, stained glass, and six large bay windows as well as many other original features.

Accommodation includes six bedrooms, two bathrooms, two sitting rooms, huge dining room, library, office, large country kitchen, scullery, wide entrance hall and sunny upstairs landing. Attention to detail is evident in every room, and the entire house is completely restored in a style sympathetic to the period in which it was built, allowing for modern conveniences, such as air-conditioning in key rooms, and the two-bay garage with remote controlled door and secure internal access to the house.

A separate studio (28 m2) stands in the garden, with power and plumbing connections, ideal for conversion to a guest cottage.

The two acres of garden are beautifully landscaped, and feature brick paving, two arbours, a canal pond, and extensive plantings of shade trees including Jacarandas and Poincianas.

Baddow House is ideal for glittering parties and long dinners, or for use as a spacious family home, or for just relaxing and watching the river flow by. Welcome to your new world, your new haven, your own paradise