A piece of Wangaratta's history is up for sale, with former barrister and solicitor Bob Constable's home at 2 Murdoch Road hitting the market.

Bob, who now resides at St Catherine's Wangaratta, has owned the property since 1965.

He purchased it from Bill Higgins, who had inherited it from the original owner, his father William T Higgins - the initiator of the Higgins family's ongoing four-generation family involvement with the city's newspaper industry.

Now, the time has come for the home to welcome its next owner, and the Constable family is taking time to reflect on their memories made at the address.

Acccording to Bob, 91, and his children Anna and Jol, if the walls of 2 Murdoch Road could talk, they would tell many a story from 60 years of ownership.

The home has been the scene of countless dinner parties and backyard barbecues, attended by people from all walks of life - from 1970s City of Wangaratta Mayor Doug Evans and Bishop of Wangaratta Robert Beal, through to a visiting Supreme Court judge, touring Test cricketer and star VFL footballer.

Even celebrated Italian actress, model and photographer Gina Lollobrigida spent time there in 1975 while visiting the city to attend a charity event, as Bob in his Mercedes was her designated driver after she arrived at the airport.

Bob's connection with 2 Murdoch Road emerged when he scouted potential homes in the vicinity which would enable him to walk to work in the city's centre at the law practice of his uncle, Neil Stewart.

"Initially I wanted to buy the home across the road, but it wasn't available, so I knocked on the door here," he said.

"The Higgins family owned it, and it had been divided into flats, so I looked into buying it instead."

By then, Bob was a two-time Wangaratta Football Club premiership player (1957 and '61) and equal Ovens and Murray league leading goalkicker (1960).

The star footballer - who would go on to be inducted to the O&M's Hall of Fame in 2013 - had been feted by numerous VFL clubs early in his career, and had to make the choice between football and law, with the law winning his heart.

Settling in Murdoch Road, he did indeed keep up his fitness with that planned walk from Murdoch Road through Merriwa Park to work each day.

He also enlisted mates to help him work on the garden, grubbing out trees and later filling in a cellar at the rear of the home, with friend Dom Notarianni working tirelessly to assist as Bob renovated the house into his "dream home".

Anna said: "Mum (Ruth) designed the bespoke kitchen using Tasmanian oak, holes were knocked through walls, and the rooms were wallpapered top to bottom, and later updated in the early 1980s."

As well as a base for entertaining, the Murdoch Road property became a showpiece for 'The Constable Collection', the artworks and antiques gathered by Bob.

"I always had a penchant for antique furniture, and over the years it became a collection," he said.

Anna said the home had developed into something of a museum, with Bob often selecting pieces while travelling in the UK, and having them shipped back to Australia by the container-load.

Bob also became interested in early Australian art, and collected pieces by artists including James Alfred Turner, Nicholas Chevalier and Hans Heysen.

"I was fascinated by my collection," he said.

Though most of the artworks and antiques have been removed from the house in readiness for auction, Anna said she'd had stickers designed to link them together in perpetuity as 'The Constable Collection', even if they were divided.

A number of pieces which were originally bought from Beechworth's Hotel Nicholas have since been bought back by the hotel's current owners, much to the delight of Bob, who sees himself as having been a caretaker of the Ned Kelly-era furniture.

Remaining in the home, though, is a portrait of Bob from his barrister days by Archibald Prize winner Fred Cress.

Bob practiced in Wangaratta as a barrister and solicitor, first working with his uncle in the early 1960s and then running his own practice between 1984 and '96, before retiring early to remarry (to Nola) and indulge his passion for travel.

He said he most enjoyed his time working in the courts, working on criminal and traffic cases in the Victorian County Court and at Wangaratta and the surrounding areas' Magistrates courts.

"He had a good relationship with local police and judiciary, and some of the judges would come to his home for meals," Anna said.

"He had a lot of Italian clients and really enjoyed their company, making many friends in the Italian community who he holds dear to this day."

From the fun of gathering in the backyard around the above-ground pool, which once collapsed as those pools were wont to do, to enjoying the delicious French cooking of Mich and Frank Lengrand, and chatting into the night around the fireplace in the 'big room' at 2 Murdoch Road, Bob and his family have thoroughly enjoyed their time in Murdoch Road.

Bob and Nola even gave the four-bedroom home its current name, 'Lenna', after the Lenna Hotel they'd loved visiting in Tasmania - and it has another touch of Wangaratta history, with the sign having been painted by late signwriter and radio broadcaster Bruce Way.

"It is the end of an era - it's been a great house, and I've loved living here," Bob said.

* 'Lenna', at 2 Murdoch Road, is for sale through Insite Real Estate.