Why did it take half a century for a residential housing subdivision in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, to succeed?

This is a history of the Dunvegan Estate in Macleod. When residential lots were first offered for sale in 1924 by prominent landowner Edith Jessie Macleod, most were purchased within a couple of years. Yet decades passed without a single house being built.

This book describes the development history of the Dunvegan Estate via an exploration of early land sales, an account of critical decisions made during the process of subdivision and a documenting of the ultimate failure of the project to yield any substantial residential development. Only the direct intervention of two levels of government over several more decades would finally lead to the success of the Dunvegan Estate as a residential community, but not without significant controversy.

Includes maps and photos.