Supreme Court of Victoria Intervenes in Mount Macedon Property Fight

A 22-year caretaker of Fontainebleau, the historic 30-room regional Victoria estate where iconic Australian painter Frederick McCubbin lived and worked, has taken five registered property owners to the Supreme Court of Victoria in an adverse possession claim. The sprawling two-storey timber and fibro residence at Mount Macedon, situated approximately an hour’s drive north of Melbourne, was the sole real estate property McCubbin ever owned in the early 1900s. It stands today as the battleground in an escalating legal standoff between five titleholders and resident caretaker Trevor Hoare.

Hoare first moved onto the Mount Macedon estate in March 2004 under an arrangement with Mark Cutler, one of five joint proprietors that include Cutler’s brother, Paul Cutler. After more than two decades on the grounds, Hoare submitted an adverse possession application to Land Use Victoria in November 2025, retracted it, and lodged a new claim in February 2026. Under Victorian law, an individual who maintains uninterrupted, exclusive, and unauthorised occupation of a property for a minimum of 15 years can petition for legal ownership of the land.

Locks Changed Amid Escalating Possession Standoff

Tensions between the proprietors and the resident escalated sharply in early 2026 when access to the heritage estate was physically contested. Hoare fitted locks on the 30-room house, prompting Paul Cutler to direct a complete lock replacement in March after discovering the formal adverse possession petition. Cutler had sent Hoare a message in February withdrawing permission for him to remain on the premises, which his legal representative, Timothy Sowden, characterised before the court as a tit-for-tat arrangement.

The dispute prompted an interim ruling from Associate Justice Ian Irving, who ordered Cutler to surrender keys and restore full possession of the property to Hoare by 4 pm on 8 April. The judicial direction simultaneously mandated that Hoare allow Heritage Victoria immediate access to evaluate the site and conduct vital structural interventions.

"Mr Hoare regards it as his home. He has adult children who attend regularly, he has not lived anywhere else except for family and health reasons including last winter. He doesn’t own any other property."

Heritage Value Clashes with Severe Neglect

Beyond the legal fight over the title deed, Fontainebleau carries immense cultural weight. McCubbin stayed at the property during weekends and holiday breaks while instructing art students at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria School, producing masterworks including ‘The Pioneer’ alongside pieces framed by the surrounding bushland. The property was formally inducted onto the Victorian Heritage Register in 2010 to preserve its architectural and historical standing.

Following McCubbin’s death in 1917, his family maintained residence at Fontainebleau, and the estate subsequently operated as a guest house before transitioning back into private hands. Today, however, neglect has degraded the premises into what court filings describe as an environmental and safety hazard. Proceedings before the Supreme Court detailed severe infestations, widespread black mould, and wheelie bins deployed inside rooms to catch falling rainwater.

Biohazard Clean and Impending August Trial

The estate’s advanced physical decay has placed both the proprietors and the caretaker under intense scrutiny from state preservation authorities. Heritage Victoria had instructed the owners to hire a specialist consultant to draft a structural works schedule by February 2026, though court proceedings resulted in an extension. Sowden noted in court that restoring basic walking safety to the interior requires a biohazard remediation effort estimated at $60,000.

Hoare’s legal team maintained that the pensioner has invested his own physical labour and finances into maintaining the house for more than two decades, noting that Hoare has filed his own heritage claim and does not obstruct conservation authorities. With Hoare’s adverse possession application still being reviewed by Land Use Victoria, the Supreme Court of Victoria is slated to resume hearings on the high-stakes ownership fight in August 2026.