Peter Fox buys Mount Macedon's Penola estate

The Fox trucking family have secured Penola, one of Mount Macedon's historic 19th century garden estates.

Linfox executive chairman Peter Fox paid $2.85 million for the four hectare garden estate which William Guilfoyle, the creator of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, helped establish for family.

The residence comes with 20 rooms and a tower. 

There's eight bedrooms, two grand living rooms, a rare original billiards room along with the requisite eight open fireplaces. The rooms were prefabricated in India using teak.

The terraced gardens have stone walls, ponds and a waterfall. There's also have a lawn tennis court where Norman Brookes played prior to becoming the first Australian to win Wimbledon in 1907. It was the retreat of his uncle, Herbert Brookes.

This article was first published in the Weekend Australian Mansion Australia property section.