Community News

“Going to Ceres was like going to Ballarat,” Paul Desbrowe-Annear laughs, recalling the early days of Wandana, Villawood Properties prestige new community on the edge of Geelong.

The trip was usually made with a visit to the Brownhill Lookout in mind and the panoramic vista it offered across Geelong and Corio Bay, the Bellarine Peninsula, Torquay and further around towards Western Victoria.

“You could see the boats coming into the bay off the ocean,” Paul says. “You’d lose sight of them at The Rip but then they’d come into view again in the bay.”

That sprawling bird’s-eye view, a Geelong treat for more than a hundred years since the lookout was built, lured Paul up the hill to Wandana.

His involvement with Rotary, who planted the trees at Drewan Park adjoining the lookout might have been a factor too, he suggests.

Paul presently lives nearby but will soon be enjoying the attributes of a stellar Wandana vista when he builds at the corner of, aptly enough, Lookout Way and Drewan Drive,

“My son’s a builder, he’ll build it for me – we’ve already done some together in Belmont and South Geelong,” he says.

“I’m thinking garages below, a pool and living above, and some bedrooms. We have one grandchild and another on the way at the moment.”

Wandana, situated between Highton and Ceres townships, has been a popular destination for second and third home-buyers, especially Geelong born-and-bred figures like Paul with an insight into local property jewels.

“It’s a great area up there. I’d seen Villawood opening around the area and thought they were just another developer,” Paul says.

“But I found out they’re more than about just money – they’re always doing something in the community.

“I’ve been with Rotary 21 years and our guys planted the trees at Drewan Park so I’m interested in the big upgrade Villawood’s going to do with the park.”