Members of
We can build sheds, verandahs and decks and repair homes on Modewarre’s rural and lifestyle blocks around Lake Modewarre. The lake, the flood mapping and the farming rules all shape what can be built.
Modewarre is farming and lifestyle country on Cape Otway Road between Moriac and Wurdiboluc, around Lake Modewarre.
The median property is about 6.7 hectares, with smaller lots on the old township streets like Russell, Raglan and Lyons. Half of homes have four or more bedrooms. Sheds, verandahs, decks and house-yard fences are the usual list. We have done 23 jobs in Torquay and 4 in Winchelsea, both a short drive away.
On Farming Zone land, an extension of up to 200 square metres, or an outbuilding of up to 250 square metres that goes with the house, needs no planning permit if the setbacks are met, including 100 metres from a waterway, wetland or designated flood plain. Around Lake Modewarre, a conservation zone applied in August 2026 limits permit-free extensions and outbuildings to 100 square metres each.
Floodway and inundation overlays cover parts of the low ground, and a salinity overlay covers about a quarter of the locality. Nearly all of Modewarre is bushfire prone, though the Bushfire Management Overlay reaches only one address. We check the address before planning anything outdoors.
Looking after the hall or a rural business around Modewarre? That side of our work is on our commercial carpentry page.
What Modewarre’s rural and lifestyle homes need most.
Verandahs for homes on open blocks.
Open decks, which the inundation overlay exempts if they have no walls or enclosed foundations.
Extensions sized to the farm or lake-zone limits.
House-yard and boundary fences.
Driveway gates for lifestyle blocks.
The old school, chapel and hall.
Doors and locks that need adjusting.
So we can see whether it’s farm, lake or flood land.
Road, boundary, neighbour and waterway distances.
Free, with any permit step written out.
One crew from start to finish.
Beyond our expectations, and it was great to work with people who could turn our ideas into something better than we imagined. Couldn’t recommend them highly enough.
Michael worked with our budget and we were so impressed by their diligence and workmanship. They did not cut corners but went the extra mile. So impressed we engaged them again at another property.
Prompt, great communication and a terrific job. Have used JF Maintenance for lots of work over the years and would recommend.
Modewarre’s Avenue of Honour was first planted with elms on 28 June 1918 and replaced with cypresses in about the 1940s. It honours Albert Jacka, a former Modewarre local who won Australia’s first Victoria Cross of the First World War.
The 2021 census counted 277 residents with a median age of 44, every home a separate house. Lifestyle blocks, a protected lake and flood mapping are why the work here is planned before it is built.
Moriac • Wurdiboluc • Mount Moriac • Surf Coast
Modewarre borders Buckley, Gherang, Moriac, Paraparap, Wurdiboluc and Mount Moriac.
Send us the address and the idea, and we will check the rules and come back with a free estimate.