For the past 18 years he has spent weekends working on Wickliffe's Narrapumelap homestead, which was built in 1873 and is considered one of rural Victoria's finest examples of French gothic revival architecture.

Its original owner, John Dixon Wyselaskie (1818-1883), was a successful pastoralist and philanthropist.

Mr McIntyre's parents bought Narrapumelap at a Melbourne auction in 1951 and today live in a more modest residence nearby.

The homestead was badly damaged in the 1980s when vandals broke in and smashed its ornate fireplaces.

"Twenty years ago it was really quite ruinous," Mr McIntyre said.

"When I first started there was no garden, a devastated interior now it's really quite nearing completion inside.

"It's quite a popular tour destination now. It is totally unique."

Mr McIntyre recently added a kitchen in a style sympathetic to the home's design and removed a dining room added to the central courtyard in about 1900.

"People have been following this project with quite a bit of interest," he said.

"I do most of the work myself I do all the design work. I actually make a lot of the things.

"It's very comprehensive because I really believe in the idea of one hand controlling all details: garden, design, garden structures, interior."

Narrapumelap will be open during the Melbourne Cup and Easter weekends and can be seen at other times by appointment.