The history of the estate, first built in 1831, is rich with stories of rampaging bushrangers, Melbourne Cup winners - even an episode of wheeling loads of gold bullion out of a Launceston bank.

And 180 years later, the run-down property was bought by Melbourne builder Trevor Evans for about $3.5 million.

"It was derelict when I came, it was shocking, it needed alot of care and love and attention," Mr Evans told The Examiner.

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Now three years and $10 million of renovations later, the boutique lodgings at the heritage-listed manor are open again.

Mr Evans and partner Deb briefly considered selling the property earlier this year, but have now decided to open to guests two boutique self-contained rooms set in the manor's outbuildings.

In colonial times, these outbuildings were a stable and a barracks.

They are now on offer as self-contained rooms for $750/night, with a two-night minimum booking.

The lavishly-decorated rooms retain many of the original colonial features, such as the convict-laid brickwork, doors and some gaslight fixtures converted to electricity.

"I wanted to leave as much of the original features in warts and all. We are using the horse troughs as ice buckets - and they look great," Mr Evans said.

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One room in the former stables even has original water pipes and pressure gauges from the 1800s that still operate.

The rooms have been renovated with modern luxuries as well - floor tiles imported from Italy, solid brass and chrome bathroom fittings, heated towel racks.

Guests can order brunch served in the main manor house, where Mr Evans and his partner reside.

Mr Evans said the attraction of staying in an ancient, heritage-listed building is his main selling point.

"People love the fact that they can stay here and touch a piece of timber that other people have touched nearly 200 years ago," he said.

And even with the stories of ghosts and long-dead convicts supposedly haunting the estate, the place still has an aura of calm, he said.

"It's about peacefulness, harmony, switching off, this place has a very calm aura to it."

There were several families entwined with the Calstock Estate, but the longest legacy was left by the Field family.

William Field started life in Enfield in North London and was sentenced to transportation to Van Diemen's Land for participating in a sheep-theft caper.

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But in the new world, life blossomed for the former butcher, who used his trade skills to forge a cattle empire selling meat across the colony. He later branched out to become a property owner and publican.

"At that time Mr Field was probably the wealthiest man in Australia - quite an incredible thing for a convict, a real rags to riches story," Mr Evans said.

One legend has it that, in 1835, after a falling out with the manager of the Launceston bank, he ordered the withdrawal of all his savings.

"He had his employees down there with wheelbarrows carting the bars of gold out back to Calstock and it broke the bank," Mr Evans said.

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He reportedly owned about a third of Launceston's properties at the time of his death in 1837.

Bushranger raids around Deloraine also feature in the estate's history, as well as a convict uprising in 1845.

Convicts were housed in cellars in the main manor house, and there are stories of whippings at a post on the grounds, Mr Evans said.

Mr Field's descendants made the estate famous as a stud farm.

The stables have bred at least two Melbourne Cup winners - Malua in 1884, and Sheet Anchor in 1885.

"Calstock was well known for raising the horses and keeping them in top condition ... maybe it's got something to do with the pasture or minerals or something," Mr Evans said.

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