The shack for sale hovering over the Glenelg River at Donovans in South Australia, near the Victorian border, is a holiday fisherman’s dream, but it comes with catches that don’t involve putting bait on a hook.
The quaint river dwelling offers many delights, but you can’t live in it, there’s no water connected, it’s a fair walk from the nearest showers and toilets, and it is subject to a conditional 50-year lease.
Lot 823 DRY CREEK ROAD, Donovans SA 5291
Offered for $235,000, Lot 823 Dry Creek Road has a bedroom, kitchen, electricity connected and a balcony directly over the water with beautiful views of national park bushland and limestone cliffs.
The tightly knit owners of a line of shacks along the river have been negotiating with the state government for years to find a grey water disposal solution that will enable water connections.
Glenelg River Shack Association president Brett Orr says Lot 823 is guaranteed a 50-year lease, but only as a shack unconnected to water.
“If it can’t meet wastewater conditions under the Health Act, it will be listed as a dry shack,” he says.
“Negotiations with the council and a government department are going well, and we hope to find a wastewater solution soon.”
Lot 823 was granted a conditional five-year lease in March 2022, and when it expires, the shack will have to remain dry unless the water problem has been solved.
Whoever buys the shack will not be allowed to hire it out or occupy it for more than 60 days at a time, at least during the interim lease. But dry or not, it promises delightful days swimming, boating, fishing or just lazing on the riverside balcony.
Some shacks have been owned for generations, and Orr says they often change hands among friends and family. One nearby at Lot 799 Dry Creek Road sold in 2024 for $210,000.
Agent Gabby Ogilvie of Complete Real Estate says there’s been a lot of interest from prospective buyers.
“The lease conditions are a little bit restrictive, but it’s very much a holiday shack that someone would love to have,” she says.
“Many of them have been held in the same family for many, many years and just get passed down. People have to have the funding behind them to be able to buy one, because you can’t have a loan against it.”
Lot 823 Dry Creek Road is a seven-minute drive across the border from the Nelson Roadhouse, which sells basic groceries. The nearest shops and supermarkets are at Mount Gambier, about a 20-minute drive away in Victoria.
Iain Gillespie Iain Gillespie launched Australia’s first television real estate program “House Hunt” on Channel 7 in the 1990s. Since then he has reported regularly on real estate during a multi-award-winning career.
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