As Jane Fraser sees it, there are so many whys in Yalla-Y-Poora homestead, a huge bluestone mansion at Tatyoon in Victoria’s Western District. Why did the founding Ware family build in such a mishmash of styles? There are Gothic, Palladian, Federation and high Victorian elements to the two-storey homestead. Why is it asymmetrical? And the big why: Why did they decide to dismantle the original homestead, which was completed in 1857, and just over 50 years later, rebuild a few hundred metres away?
Yalla-Y-Poora has belonged to the family of Jane’s husband, Tim, since his grandfather bought it in 1965. The 3500-acre
