General News
19 January, 2026
'Headline' home opens the farm gate
MARK and Jasmine Peters spent the festive break landscaping the front of their new “farm house” just 200 metres from the Newbridge store and post office.
The couple and two-year-old daughter Willow have even named the home Farm Gate.
Mark said inspiration for the name had come from a Loddon Herald headline in 2023 when the shire council approved building on the farm zone land once owned by the Catholic Church.
The ASQ quarry worker said: “We’ve even had a special sign made and erected at the farm gate.”
Mark, whose parents Daryl and Beryl operated the store for 20 years until 2023 and still own the property, said he and Jasmine had been looking to build in Newbridge.
“We had been renting in Bendigo and building in Newbridge has been an accessible option,” said Jasmine.
The property had been passed in at auction before the Peters made their offer on the block of just under an acre in size.
Mark said there had been several challenges, including the farm zoning and a section of the Southern Loddon pipeline through the property.
“We had planned for the home to be facing the (Wimmera) Highway but because of the pipeline we changed the orientation to face Market Street,” he said.
The Peters’ have also erected a large shed incorporating Mark’s “man cave”.
The Christmas-New Year break has seen Mark make multiple trips for landscaping supplies.
Jasmine said their home was one of several either finished in the last five years or being built in the town. “We’re part of a trend. We think there have been 10 new homes around Newbridge in that time and work has started on another just around the corner,” Jasmine said.
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