House, contents of former ad man Michael Ball sold

Greenacres, the former Sutton Forest home of the late veteran ad man Michael Ball, and his widow, Daria has been sold for $3.3 million.

The house contents went up for sale last weekend grossing about $800,000.

The sale of the 40 ha Hume Highway property was handled by his executor, Daniel Gilbert after being listed through Michael Maloney at Richardson & Wrench. 

The home had initially been listed unsuccessfully with $3.1 million hopes in 2014.

Set behind stately electric gates, the custom built, five bedroom brick home at the end of a tree lined bitumen driveway.

Ball had paid $1.9 million for the property now with country-style homestead that sits in manicured gardens, with paddocks, four dams and cattle yards.

He made headlines in 2007 when he sold his old Sutton Forest estate for $15 million to television industry pioneer Reg Grundy. The 200ha hobby farm retains the mantle of the district's record price.

There were also headlines when he sold a beef cattle property in 2011 for $8.5 million to Aurelius Rural, which unbeknown to Ball was a shelf company for Hume Coal. Ball later said he would never have sold if he had known Hume Coal was the buyer.

There is an auction includes some of Michael's various collections, everything from ancient fossils to 17th century English maps.

Opening bids on some items begin at $200 stretching to $25,000 estimate for a marble statue of a Roman maiden by Benjamin Edward Spence.

A pair of 18th Century Qing stone lions are tipped to sell at $5000 plus.

After spending much of his career overseas and in Asia, Ball's collection reflects his international life during which he founded one of the world's most creative agency brands, The Ball Partnership after having worked for industry legend David Ogilvy.

This article first appeared in the Sunday Telegraph.