'WITHOUT a doubt, there's a ghost in this house," says Sue Ferguson, who seems a practical sort of woman not prone to fabricating tales. "There's a noise that happens every morning at 2.50. It's in our bedroom behind the cupboard," she says, likening it to someone stepping on a creaky floorboard. "Sometimes the cupboard door pops open and we reckon it's Charlie Turner getting up and going to work."

Ferguson, 58, and Jonathan Hicks, 62, took possession of their beautiful clutch of 19th-century stone buildings — a residence and former bakery — in Mernda three years ago. The plan was to relax but a feeling that they should return the bakery — inactive for 66 years — to its former glory dogged Hicks.

Brothers Charlie and Steve Turner were the original bakers, cooking loaves in a Scotch wood-fired oven installed in 1892 and delivering bread to residents of the Plenty Valley region. It's the same oven Hicks uses today to bake excellent sourdough loaves and ciabatta rolls.

The original San Francisco culture, created in the 1890s, is also used in the making of the generous rolls, which are delicious around pieces of warmed roast beef and gravy or chicken schnitzel.

The cafe consists of an old-fashioned tearoom (sometimes Ferguson plays golden oldies on the piano) and a counter stacked with made-here slices, cakes, salads, pies and rolls. The cute kitchen is in a separate building.

Outside, it's lovely to sit under the verandah overlooking the garden, which is leafy with gums, weeping myrtle and silver birch. There's even a kid-size wicker chair, the perfect place to eat a decorated cupcake.

Further down the back, there's a vegie garden, chooks and fruit trees. Eggs are used in the baking, lemons go into the scrummy lemon-curd tart and other fruits become jam.

The bakery specialises in pies, with 13 varieties. The beef and mushroom was flavour-packed, with fleshy pieces of mushroom and juicy minced steak in a dark gravy.

The ox cheek and shiraz had a good hit of wine, the tender pieces of meat sticky and gelatinous and not too salty. But for me, the pastry had problems.

Although golden and flaky on top, the bases of all six pies I tried were a touch undercooked, giving the pies a floury taste and detracting from their excellent fillings.

Temperatures were also inconsistent — the first batch could have been hotter; the second was just right.

At the sweet end was a delicious French vanilla slice, with crisp, flaky pastry and thick layers of custard and cream, all liberally dusted in icing sugar (they do a passionfruit version, too).

"We had no idea of the level of interest the community had in the bakery," says Ferguson, who reckons the dramatic turn in the couple's lives was "meant to be".

This is a warm, homely spot and I reckon Ferguson and Hicks have done the Turners proud.

nrousseau@theage.com.au