Living Legends is proud to be part of Open House Melbourne 2020, and on 25 and 26 July we will share the history and stories of Woodlands Homestead in celebration of our historic home.

Woodlands Homestead at Woodlands Historic Park, the home of Living Legends, is a unique and treasured part of Victoria’s heritage. One of the only remaining timber kit homes in Victoria, it was brought from Britain for retired Royal Navy Officer William Greene and his family in 1843.

For the 2020 Open House Melbourne program, we’re breaking convention in unconventional times and adopting new ways to stay connected, think, explore and encourage change. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we can’t welcome guests inside the Homestead, but that won’t stop us from sharing it with you.

With support from Hume City Council, we have a wonderful 5-minute video tour of Woodlands Homestead to share, exploring the history of the home and its surrounding outbuildings. We also have two podcasts delving deeper into the stories of the families who called Woodlands home in the 19th and 20th centuries, and a Facebook Live Q&A with Dr Andrew Clarke available to answer questions from the public.

Schedule of activities

Saturday 25 July from 8am 

Open House Melbourne 2020 begins! All tours and information available on the Open House Melbourne website, including Woodlands Homestead virtual tour and podcasts.

Explore our Open House Melbourne page, video tour and podcasts here.

Saturday 25 July @ 2pm on Facebook

Woodlands Homestead Q&A with Dr Andrew Clarke live on Facebook here. All content will be available through Open House Melbourne until the end of Sunday 26 July, then posted to this website thereafter.

About Open House Melbourne

Open House Melbourne is an independent organisation that fosters public appreciation for architecture and public engagement in the future of our city. The thirteenth Open House Melbourne will present the largest collection of virtual tours in Australia, and an unrivalled program of free, live, interactive and on-demand digital content—in keeping with the true spirit of Open House Melbourne.

If 2020 has made one thing clear it’s that we’re in uncharted territory.

From harrowing Summer bushfires and the global climate emergency, to the impacts of Covid-19 shutdowns, we’ve been thrust into reconsidering how Melbourne’s built environment has been shaped—for the better and for the worse—through major moments in our past, present and soon to be future.

We are looking down the barrel of cultural, economic, technological and social disruption. We are at a tipping point of true change, and to succeed we must do things differently than we have before. Now is the time to look at things from another angle—to seek out new doors to open when the ones we’ve always known close. Now is the time to throw out old ways of doing and thinking; to take charge of our futures and build on what has come before to go where we haven’t been yet—together.