Faraday Schoolhouse listed for sale

Faraday Schoolhouse listed for sale
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 8, 2020

The former Faraday Schoolhouse, built in 1869, has been listed for sale.

The historic building served as a single-room schoolhouse for the small farming community of Faraday for around 100 years until it was closed following the 1972 Faraday School kidnapping — one of Australia’s most infamous mass abductions. 

A young teacher and her six students were taken hostage by masked gunmen, who demanded a $1 million ransom from the government for their safe return.

The kidnapping was inspired by a scene in the Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry and became the basis of the 1985 movie Fortress, directed by Arch Nicholson starring Rachel Ward.

The Faraday Schoolhouse, one of only two schools constructed from granite in Victoria, has been used as a private residence for 12 years.

The 9200 square metre site of bushland near Castlemaine includes two other self-contained cottages.

It is being marketed in the mid-$500,000 range by Great Real Estate agent Dominic Romeo.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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