For a century, Dame Nellie Melba’s country home north of Melbourne was a mystery hidden behind a vast hedge. In 2014, the public was finally able to peer behind this cypress veil when a restaurant opened on the property and tours of the garden became available. Tours of what is still a family home were also briefly offered last year, and are back for several months in 2017. While there are grander historic homes open to the public, and the post-tour high tea is modest compared to many available elsewhere, A Glimpse of Melba is a rewarding, even unmissable experience for anyone interested in this legendary opera star.

^{Nellie Melba’s country home. Photos: supplied.}

The tour began outside what were once a complex of functional buildings, now transformed into public spaces including the restaurant, shop and cellar door. Di, a warm and enthusiastic tour guide, led our group of 10 inside this complex for an introduction to the woman and her property, which is the Australian home for Melba’s British-based great-grandson. There were the essential facts, such as the diva’s purchase of the property, a former dairy, in 1909,...