A magazine article taken from the magazine A Country Style in 1992 on "The Hermitage" at Narbethong in Victoria.A magazine article taken from the magazine A Country Style in 1992 on "The Hermitage" at Narbethong in Victoria. "The Hermitage" was built by photographer John William Lindt as a home and guesthouse in 1894. John Lindt had previously photographed the mountain scenery of the Black Spur and purchased 71 acres and subseqently built his home and guesthouse from where he continued his career. "The Hermitage had a garden designed by John Lindt's friend, Ferdinand von Mueller, who was at one stage the Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. The garden featured New Guinea tree houses from which John Lindt made frequent panoramas of his property and the surrounding forest of towering mountain ash. Aged 81 Lindt died of heart failure during disastrous bushfires on 19 February 1926 at the Hermitage. He was survived by his wife Catherine who continued to run ‘The Hermitage’ guest house before she retired to the city. At the time of the publication of this article, John and Val Stafford had become the fifth owners of "The Hermitage".the hermitage, john william lindt, narbethong, victoria, black spur, ferdinand von mueller, melbourne botanic gardens, new guinea, catherine lindt, john stafford, val stafford