The site of one of Australia's most notorious, high-profile kidnappings is on the market in regional Victoria.
The Faraday schoolhouse has been listed for sale, with price hopes of $795,000, and is where six pupils and their 20-year-old teacher Mary Gibbs were abducted by two men in 1972.
The group were held for a $1 million ransom, which the Victorian state government announced it would pay. However, the courageous teacher helped her students escape when the kidnappers left to retrieve the money.
That frightful memory has been long set aside, with 1 Faraday School Road now a warm and inviting family home. It last changed hands in 2017 for $489,000 and in 1998 for $52,000, public records show.
Assistant Police Commissioner Mick Miller said in The Age at the time of the unfolding horror: "It's the gravest situation of this kind in the history of the Victoria Police force".
Deputy premier and education minister Lindsay Thompson said the ransom demands, left on a note at the schoolhouse after the teacher and children were taken, would be met.
What happened next is akin to a film script.
Police drove Thompson to a bush location for the drop off, with Miller hidden under a blanket in the car, armed. Thompson was ready to personally deliver the cash, in two suitcases – as requested – but it was never picked up.
However, some time later, the kidnappers left the scene to collect the money and while they were gone, the Gibbs kicked down a door and fled with the children, flagging down help.
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She was awarded a bravery medal and happy photos of her with Thompson and the six kids, smiling after their ordeal and raising their hands, were featured in newspapers, including The Age.
The men were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced.
The listing, on the books of Cantwell Property in Castlemaine, lightly touches on the history, but also mentions the "love and laughter" has has imbued the home since. The campaign images show a rare schoolhouse conversion blending charm and modern finishes.
"Faraday School House reads like a classic period novel, starting with a rich history with strong community spirit, then a drama with an act of bravery and ending in a beautifully restored home filled with love and laughter," the listing says.
"With historical architectural and social significance, Faraday School House is one of only two common schools constructed of locally sourced granite in Victoria and built by the local community in 1869."
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The schoolhouse, which has two bedrooms, Tasmanian Oak floors, a contemporary kitchen and a wood heater, is one of three building on a parcel of 8550 square metres.
Included is an 1980's granite residence with one bedroom, a bathroom, a wood heater and charming French doors, and a self-contained cottage.
Faraday is off the Calder Highway, about 116 km north west of Melbourne.
Close towns are Castlemaine and Harcourt, and the nearest major city is Bendigo (the fourth-largest city in Victoria, established on the back of the gold rush) is a few clicks further north.
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