Banyule homestead, Heidelberg gets $5.5 million asking price
The Gothic Revival Banyule at Heidelberg has been listed with a $5.5 million asking price, through the Jellis Craig agency.
The heritage-protected 1840s homestead - one of the oldest remaining residences in Victoria - once sat on a 266 hectare holding.
The Buckingham Drive homestead now on a 9,085 square metre holding was designed by architect John Gill for the English-born pioneer Joseph Hawdon in 1846 whose family retained the home until the 1860s.
The Gothic style was unusual for Melbourne, but more popular in Sydney.
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Jellis Craig Balwyn agent Iain Carmichael undertook an expressions of interest that closed May 7.
Set behind hedging, with wetland views to the Dandenong Ranges, it has an eight bedroom, four bathroom mansion.
There's a stately reception foyer, grand-scale dining, huge ballroom and music room.
Built before the discovery of gold, there are a handful of other buildings in Melbourne of this age, but many were originally small cottages that were extended later to become large homes.
But Banyule Homestead was intended to be a grand mansion at Heidelberg which at the time was a desirable location for the Port Phillip gentry.
In 1974 Banyule Homestead was purchased from the Simpson family for a below valuation $190,000 price by the Hamer state government, then opened as an annex by the National Gallery of Victoria.
The homestead was sold by the Kennett state government in 1995 for $815,000 to the current vendors.