Push to save historic Glenample Homestead from falling into disrepair

The only two survivors of the famed Loch Ard shipwreck in 1878 - Eva Carmichael and Tom Pearce - sheltered at the homestead which overlooks the Twelve Apostles after they were rescued.

The sandstone homestead, which was built in the 1860s, has been closed to the public since 2007.

Richard Nesseler, who is in a dispute with the state government over its move to compulsorily acquire his farmland for a proposed new $80 million visitor information centre, said he would be happy to see the homestead returned to his family.

The homestead sits in the middle of the family farm, and Mr Nesseler said it was taken by the state government on a 99-year lease back in 1978.

"They've got the lease of it for $5 a year for 99 years which we are almost halfway through at the moment," he said.

"The sad thing is everyone has forgotten about it but the house continues to go further and further into decay.

"That's where the state government, or Parks Victoria, should be responsible."

Parks Victoria, which manages the site, said it was not open to the public and there were no current plans to reopen it.

However, the Shipwreck Coast Master Plan, which guides development between Princetown and Peterborough, has suggested reopening the homestead in the future. The homestead is not included in the $80 million plans for the visitor information centre.

Parks Victoria said the homestead was generally in good repair and works to fix guttering, replace decking and other maintenance were completed in 2015.

With the government confirming it had no current plans for the site, Mr Nesseler asked why the 99-year lease wasn't rescinded and the homestead returned to the owners of the property - the Nesseler family. "It's a long time to sit idle," he said.

"If you're not going to do anything with it, pass it back to us so at least we as owners of it can look after the place and seek the opportunities that it might have.

"The verandah has rotted out and you'll fall straight through it.

"For me at the moment it just highlights what stupid decisions have been made in the past by state governments in this area."

Mr Nesseler said he had leased back the site in the early 2000s, and run a coffee shop from the site for a while so people could see the house and the artefacts.

But he said it failed financially because there wasn't enough interest among the masses of people that travelled down the Great Ocean Road to turn off and have a look at an old house.

"You'd see grey nomads...they'll come in," he said.

And it was only visitor numbers during summer period that made it worthwhile, he said.

Mr Nesseler said one of his visions for the site would be to couple the homestead with a separate building for a dining experience that overlooked the Twelve Apostles. "It is on top of a hill. It's really got opportunity all over it," he said.

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