Boomtime Banyule at Heidelberg for May auction

The Gothic Revival Banyule at Heidelberg has been listed for 16 May auction, having failed to sell last year when listed with a $5.5 million asking price.

The heritage-protected 1840s homestead - one of the oldest remaining residences in Victoria - once sat on a 266 hectare holding. 

Set behind hedging, with wetland views to the Dandenong Ranges, it has an eight bedroom, four bathroom mansion.

It has been listed by Prue Jones at RT Edgar who expects $5 million plus.

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.

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.