Heritage
Beneath painted ceilings, history lingers
Step into a heritage-listed world of Italian artistry, memory and timeless hospitality in the heart of Hepburn Springs.
Beneath painted ceilings and timeworn stone, the Old Macaroni Factory reveals a world of Italian history, artistry and hospitality.
Built in 1859 in the Palladian style by brothers Pietro and Giacomo Lucini, political refugees from northern Italy, this heritage-listed building is both a rare architectural treasure and a living story of migration, resilience and imagination. Its extraordinary ceiling and wall murals remain Australia’s only known example of political messaging woven into a domestic interior.
Today, a careful restoration has revived the building as an intimate destination for stays, private dining, celebrations and thoughtfully considered gatherings. Guests are invited to experience its richly storied spaces, from the Macaroni Room and H.D.C. Long Room to the atmosphere-filled Lucini’s Lounge.
A Place of Architecture, Art and Story
In the heart of Hepburn Springs, Victoria down the road from Daylesford, The Old Macaroni Factory stands as a remarkable piece of Australian and Italian migrant history.
The Building — Built in the Palladian style in 1859 from local stone and brick, the factory carries the quiet grandeur of another era. Its walls speak of the goldfields, of migration, and of a bold Italian vision realised in regional Victoria.
The Murals — Painted by Giacomo Lucini, the murals are among the largest and most intact domestic secular works of their kind in Australia. Flags, symbols of the Risorgimento and references to the brothers’ political ideals transform the interiors into something both intimate and extraordinary.
The Memory of Home — Amid the political imagery are tender painted glimpses of Intra on Lake Maggiore, revealing the brothers’ deep connection to the place they left behind. Together, these details make the building feel not just historic, but profoundly human.
