The iconic home at the centre of the Aussie battler film The Castle has been saved after a $140,000, seven-year long ordeal.
George Fendyk, 82, owns the weatherboard house he bought for $40,000 in 2017 and relocated it 276km from Strathmore to Beechworth. He has just won council approval for the dwelling to become a three-bedroom home, potentially saving it from being destroyed as an unusable building.
George Fendyk, 82, is owner of The Castle’s iconic home now in Beechworth. Today/Nine
Fendyk estimates he spent anywhere between $140,000 and $200,000 relocating a piece of Australian film history but he said “it feels great” knowing it’s saved.
“It was designed for a serenity and I get people from Darwin, everywhere, all over the place, looking at it,” Fendyk told Today hosts Michael Willesee Jr. and Sylvia Jeffreys.
While Fendyk finally got council approval, he was reluctant to call the battle over noting he’s had to deal with several council changes and start his fight from scratch each time.
Fendyk has lived in Beechworth for 74 years and thought having a piece of The Castle history in the town would attract more people there.
“I think [the house] is good for Beechworth. The people who come and go to Beechworth don’t stay here long; they stay a few years, and they go move on and that’s the thing that worries me,” he said.
Fendyk recounted the difficult journey to transport the famous Kerrigan family home.
“It came here in four pieces, it sat in the paddock for years and years, and it’s lost all his plaster, lost all his internals. So it’s only basically a block-up stage,” he said.
Fendyk had grand plans to make the building part of a caravan park. He hoped it would be complete with a poolroom and a caretakers’ cottage, but his dwindling funds and council’s decision to refuse the request in 2019 mean those plans won’t happen.
The council knocked back plans to incorporate the house into a caravan park. Brad Teal Ascot Vale
Before Fendyk’s fight, the Kerrigan’s fought to save the home from airport developers in the Aussie film. Working Dog
A second application to use the building as a family home was approved in June this year.
Council said the approval had taken time because the proposed use needed to be clarified and the building sat across two land titles.
Those issues were resolved after a related subdivision was completed.
Fendyk rallied the people of Beechworth and of Australia to come down and show their support after he put up the good fight to save the home.
“We need ’em!” the Victorian local signed off.